I looked at the list with members with the highest posts. I think currently I am number 16. And I noticed that many users in the upper echelons have not commiited suicide. However, there is no transparence about all memers that have committed suicide.
I asked Grok this question. But I have an own comment about this phenomenon.
**Yes, according to available research on Sanctioned Suicide (SS), higher posting activity and broader engagement (higher "profile" via more posts/threads) correlates with *lower* predicted suicide risk in the studied population.**
### Key Evidence from Network Analysis Study
A 2024 study by Lekkas et al. analyzed social interaction data from Sanctioned Suicide, a prominent pro-choice suicide forum. They used network features from over 3.2 million interactions among 192 users (including 48 "highest risk users" or HRUs flagged via behaviors like method-seeking or explicit plans).
- **Higher thread involvement** (posting in more threads) and **higher betweenness centrality** (bridging connections) were **slightly protective** against being classified as high-risk.
- Users with **higher total threads**, involvement with more connected users (higher network density), interactions with more people (higher network order), and higher in-degree centrality (receiving more attention/replies) were **less likely** to be HRUs.
- In contrast, sparser networks, lower/variable in-degree (less engagement received), and certain other patterns predicted higher risk.
This suggests that more active, socially embedded users (higher "profile" via sustained posting) tend to show lower acute risk markers in this context. The model achieved a respectable AUC of 0.73 for predicting high-risk status from network data alone.
### Context and Caveats
- **This is correlation, not causation.** More active users might stay engaged because they are in a "venting" or help-seeking phase, find community support that reduces isolation, or are less imminently planning (some forum users report the site delaying their plans through discussion). Less active or isolated posters may be further along in the process.
- **Selection effects**: New users often post intensely about methods early on and drop off; many "goodbye" threads come from lower-activity accounts. Long-term posters may represent a survivor/ambivalent subgroup.
- **Forum dynamics**: Other analyses note that responses to posts (especially venting) can increase future posting, and positive tone elicits more engagement—potentially creating a supportive loop for some.
- **Broader picture**: The forum has been linked to real deaths (e.g., NYT investigations found associations with dozens of cases), and prosuicide content/search can correlate with certain method-specific suicides at a population level. However, some users and analyses argue it provides catharsis or prolongs life for others by reducing isolation.
No large-scale longitudinal studies definitively track long-term suicide outcomes by post count on SS specifically (ethical and data access issues make this hard). The network study provides the most direct evidence on activity levels within the forum.
**Bottom line**: Within SS data, higher posting/engagement profiles align with *lower* (not higher) modeled risk. This doesn't mean the forum is "safe" or preventive overall—suicide risk is complex, multifactorial, and individual. If you're struggling, professional help (e.g., via established crisis lines) is strongly recommended alongside or instead of online spaces.
My comment: I agree correlation doesn't imply causation. In order to reach a high post count you have to stay alive. It doesn't mean the members will never commit suicide. But I could imagine a lot of factors play a role. Members that post for a long time might not be as determined as other to go through it at the current stage of their life. The interactions on SaSu might play a role but not necessarily. There are people that wonder why there actually are members with thousands of posts on a suicide forum. One could argue this forum gives them resources to cope in life. Maybe they were already not high risk patients before they found the forum. Maybe the members who are able to reach such a high post count benefit more from venting on here. I still think members that are careful with their own life/ life and death decisions should be careful when giving advices on here. I think for me this forum helps me to cope with loneliness. And I think I am a very lonely person despite the fact I have many friends. I wonder which post count has the highest risk when it comes to committing suicide. I could imagine maybe 20-50 posts. It is enough to learn about methods but maybe not enough to experiene the socially positive/ comforting community aspects that help members on here. Maybe there are people so determined to kill themselves that learning enough about suicide methods might be enough for them to commit suicide. This is all speculative. There won't be perfect statistics. I wonder whether I was in the sample and how these scientists would have categorized me. Moreover, it makes me wonder whether with every post/thread I post on here makes my suicide less likely. I don't necessarily believe that though. My highest suicide risk was at the end of 2024. So 4 years after I joined.
I asked Grok this question. But I have an own comment about this phenomenon.
**Yes, according to available research on Sanctioned Suicide (SS), higher posting activity and broader engagement (higher "profile" via more posts/threads) correlates with *lower* predicted suicide risk in the studied population.**
### Key Evidence from Network Analysis Study
A 2024 study by Lekkas et al. analyzed social interaction data from Sanctioned Suicide, a prominent pro-choice suicide forum. They used network features from over 3.2 million interactions among 192 users (including 48 "highest risk users" or HRUs flagged via behaviors like method-seeking or explicit plans).
- **Higher thread involvement** (posting in more threads) and **higher betweenness centrality** (bridging connections) were **slightly protective** against being classified as high-risk.
- Users with **higher total threads**, involvement with more connected users (higher network density), interactions with more people (higher network order), and higher in-degree centrality (receiving more attention/replies) were **less likely** to be HRUs.
- In contrast, sparser networks, lower/variable in-degree (less engagement received), and certain other patterns predicted higher risk.
This suggests that more active, socially embedded users (higher "profile" via sustained posting) tend to show lower acute risk markers in this context. The model achieved a respectable AUC of 0.73 for predicting high-risk status from network data alone.
### Context and Caveats
- **This is correlation, not causation.** More active users might stay engaged because they are in a "venting" or help-seeking phase, find community support that reduces isolation, or are less imminently planning (some forum users report the site delaying their plans through discussion). Less active or isolated posters may be further along in the process.
- **Selection effects**: New users often post intensely about methods early on and drop off; many "goodbye" threads come from lower-activity accounts. Long-term posters may represent a survivor/ambivalent subgroup.
- **Forum dynamics**: Other analyses note that responses to posts (especially venting) can increase future posting, and positive tone elicits more engagement—potentially creating a supportive loop for some.
- **Broader picture**: The forum has been linked to real deaths (e.g., NYT investigations found associations with dozens of cases), and prosuicide content/search can correlate with certain method-specific suicides at a population level. However, some users and analyses argue it provides catharsis or prolongs life for others by reducing isolation.
No large-scale longitudinal studies definitively track long-term suicide outcomes by post count on SS specifically (ethical and data access issues make this hard). The network study provides the most direct evidence on activity levels within the forum.
**Bottom line**: Within SS data, higher posting/engagement profiles align with *lower* (not higher) modeled risk. This doesn't mean the forum is "safe" or preventive overall—suicide risk is complex, multifactorial, and individual. If you're struggling, professional help (e.g., via established crisis lines) is strongly recommended alongside or instead of online spaces.
My comment: I agree correlation doesn't imply causation. In order to reach a high post count you have to stay alive. It doesn't mean the members will never commit suicide. But I could imagine a lot of factors play a role. Members that post for a long time might not be as determined as other to go through it at the current stage of their life. The interactions on SaSu might play a role but not necessarily. There are people that wonder why there actually are members with thousands of posts on a suicide forum. One could argue this forum gives them resources to cope in life. Maybe they were already not high risk patients before they found the forum. Maybe the members who are able to reach such a high post count benefit more from venting on here. I still think members that are careful with their own life/ life and death decisions should be careful when giving advices on here. I think for me this forum helps me to cope with loneliness. And I think I am a very lonely person despite the fact I have many friends. I wonder which post count has the highest risk when it comes to committing suicide. I could imagine maybe 20-50 posts. It is enough to learn about methods but maybe not enough to experiene the socially positive/ comforting community aspects that help members on here. Maybe there are people so determined to kill themselves that learning enough about suicide methods might be enough for them to commit suicide. This is all speculative. There won't be perfect statistics. I wonder whether I was in the sample and how these scientists would have categorized me. Moreover, it makes me wonder whether with every post/thread I post on here makes my suicide less likely. I don't necessarily believe that though. My highest suicide risk was at the end of 2024. So 4 years after I joined.
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