Resource Interesting article - history of online suicide forums

[Rounded Apathy]

Came upon this pretty interesting piece while trying to find sources for SN, N and so on blabbed about in other articles decrying SS (if anyone would be so kind as to share, that'd be lovely). It was written before SS even existed, in the Reddit days it seems, and talks about how that group came about mainly from people from other, even older online spaces.

Some interesting and relevant bits:

• The first known online suicide note included the following: "let it be known that [this group] was not a promoting cause in my suicide. Had it not been for this group, my best plan to date was to get pissed drunk and dive off the roof of my apartment building."
• A professor studying death and grief in online communities for some 20 years was quoted: "Suicidal ideation has been around forever. I can only imagine how important it was when people realized that there was a place that they could openly express those feelings," Sofka said. "This is a place where you can say what you're feeling without being judged. That's a rare gift."
• Talking about the old subreddit, the article summarizes the content thus: "People discuss getting psychiatric help, failed attempts, methods, depression, and choosing their death day. Often they just post about how nice it is to finally have a place where they feel accepted. Sometimes they use a.s.h. lingo that was created before many of the subscribers were even born [such as catch the bus]"

It also contains some quotations and such from people on the "other side" as it were, bu this is what journalism should be. Presenting something in a balanced manner, as it is, without an agenda. Yes suicide is an awful tragedy in most cases, but life is tragic, and circumstances are far too often far too cruel to far too many. I found another more "alt" article written after the NYT one more on this track and thought it'd be worth sharing till it went off the rails into pseudo-psychology (look it up if you're so inclined via Countere), but at least it was on the mark regarding the bigger picture problems of why many people ctb to begin with.