Having lost a sister to suicide, this is a subject that intrigues me. So when I read this odd story on the International Herald Tribune, about how suicide and web2.0 are being linked together in Korea, I took note. This story covers the phenomenon from the rise of the Beef Riots earlier this year, to Internet game addiction among the youth, and describes a definition that I hadn’t heard of:
‘infodemics,’ a phenomenon in which inaccurate, false information is disseminated, prompting social unrest that spreads like an epidemic
That the web is able to spawn a whole industry of conspiracy theories, urban myth and outright falsehood is not new to me, though it seems to be new to those in Korea. That people are able to gossip about anyone or anything in cyberspace seems hardly surprising. But then the unfortunate death of Choi is unlikely to be the first (though she may be the first celebrity to off herself for this reason) in cyberspace due to bullying. The odd twist in this story is that the bullying was carried out by ‘fans’ or chatterers who were otherwise unknown to the victim. A wrongful death suit therefore seems unlikely.
But sometimes these rumors, gossip and ‘facts’ become so distorted on the Internet, and the ease of collaboration is the tinderbox that helps to light and fan the flames of anger stoked by a wronged sense of justice, that it isn’t surprising that online reactions to real world stories aren’t more common or more obvious to us all. The article goes on to quote an interesting example of how far such gossip can push innocent victims:
One of the most famous cases of malicious online rumors involved Nah Hoon Ah, a 61-tear-old singer and sex symbol.
For weeks last year, Nah suffered online rumors that he had had affairs with two young female celebrities and had had his genitals removed by the boss of a Japanese yakuza who got jealous.
In a nationally televised news conference in January, Nah attacked “yellow journalism” spread through the Internet and picked up by newspapers. Then he stepped on a desk, unzipped his pants and said: “It’s your call. Either you believe me or I can drop my pants and show them for five minutes.” The nation gasped and the rumors died down.
Worth reading? What would you suggest? More online anonymity for movie stars and celebrities? Perhaps a partial solution.