Thanks for being considerate. You give the community way too much credit. Most people just impose this stuff on unsuspecting folk. I think it's exploitation as I do the videos themselves. The sites that host these things aren't doing it for research, they don't care what happens to anyone and the people that watch it most probably aren't suicidal. They're having too much fun at others expense. The most disturbing thing is just how normal it is now. I think it should be banned immediately. Takes away any temptation. It's going to breed nazis otherwise but maybe that's the idea. If it was illegal then those that watch it would have to really want to in which case they belong on a register before they become the next mass shooter
I think in the early stages of depression and suicide ideation, you have more hope you'll get out, so you start to leak the more palatable parts of how you're feeling or paraphrase them, (eg. say you're tired of things rather than outright, "I want to die") in the hopes that other people have the answers or can shed some light on things. And then when you see that even THEY are taken very negatively, you just.. learn to NOT. The last thing you want is to drive people away, so you get good at hiding it, generally forever.
Definitely the concept of suicide is used sometimes to exploit people; I've seen plenty of "do this or I'll kill myself". But I doubt the vast majority of those people are actually suicidal. When you're in that dark of a place, the last thing on your mind is who to manipulate to achieve an outcome that wouldn't change anything anyway. Emotional abusers are generally easy to spot.
After a while, it dawns on you slowly that as much as people suck, the vast majority can't actually conceive of wanting to die even in their worst moments. It's easy to get angry at them for not understanding or wanting to understand but.. I suppose if I was happy/had healthier coping mechanisms and a better network, I might feel the same way. And I don't want to hurt anybody so.. here I am, talking to those who won't be hurt by it. Hopefully!
With regard to the actual videos, you don't call sites "best gore" and "watch people die" without exploitation in mind. Most of the deaths aren't suicides and most people who watch are, indeed, not suicidal. So it is, certainly, exploitation from most uploaders and viewers.
I'm not sure watching people die is actually considered normal. Like you say, if you mention these things offline, you're going to be called out for it. Death is terrifying to the vast majority to a point that it is almost taboo. That's why suicidal thoughts are so difficult to admit to and so potentially isolating. So while death videos have an audience, it's still very niche. You don't tend to admit to your workmates that you're gonna go home, order a pizza and watch people dying, you'd end up being known as the weird one and being left out of office parties!
I'm not sure the presence of such videos normalises the killing of others or, indeed, nazism. I think those are mindsets that already need to be present and are actually far more crystalised if you find a community of like-minded individuals who will reinforce your views (and yes, the irony of being on a suicide forum is not lost on me, hah). Sure, they can be used as training materials but.. as I say, you'd have to want to do it and have the means in the first place. After all the material I've viewed, I no more want to kill others than I did before.
