What is Facebook Suicide?

By Marcie Barnes

(This post is part of an assignment for the class I am taking, Global Impact of New Communication Technologies at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I will be posting articles about things I read on my classmates' blogs, and talking about how they relate to health, if possible!)

I was perusing my classmate Joe's blog: Joereco’s Weblog and found this entry on Facebook Suicide. I have never been to facebook, and I am now keenly aware that I need to stay away! I am no stranger to Internet addiction and the dangers of forming bonds with people in an online forum. Although this seems to be the wave of the future, the article referenced in Joe's post from Fox news does a great job of giving an example of how online addiction can be harmful to your most important real-life relationships.

I am proud of Stephanie, who as the article describes, recognized the pain and betrayal her boyfriend felt by her relationships with virtual people (some from her real past) and deactivated her facebook account. Addicts can easily become so engrossed in the endorphins and other "feel good" aspects of their drug of choice that they completely deny the pain they are causing people who love them. If it's hurting someone else, stop.

(For more information on Internet Addiction here's a resource: http://psychcentral.com/netaddiction/)