5 - The Representation of Self Injury and Suicide on Emo Social Networking Groups
Corresponding Author(s) : Bianca Wright
African Sociological Review,
Vol. 16 No. 2 (2012): African Sociological Review
Abstract
The influence of the media on suicide has become a growing topic of discussion in various academic fields. Little attention has however been paid to the influence of social media on teenage suicide. In this age of technological savoir–faire, teenagers are beginning to spend more and more time communicating via internet social networking sites. Recent news reports have blamed both social networking and the teenage emo subculture for romanticising suicide and encouraging and promoting suicidal behaviour online. In these uncensored and unrestrictedonline communities, destructive and dangerous conversations between vulnerable teenagers may go unnoticed. With this in mind, this baseline study aimed to determine the portrayal of suicide and self-harm on social networking sites by analysing the representation of these behaviours among emo teenagers on the popular social networking site Facebook. A content analysis of two emo groups revealed a glorification, normalisation and acceptance of suicidal behaviours and determined that the potential for social networking sites to be used as a tool for the promotion and encouragement of such behaviours exists. As such, with evidence now pointing towards a connection between teenage use of social media and the promotion of positive perceptions of suicidal behaviour, further research into the role of new forms of media in suicide contagion may need to be undertaken.
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- [Unknown]. 2008. Web worries after suicide spate. BBC News [Wales] 23 January 2008. URL: (consulted on 12 March 2009): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi wales/7204172.stm
- [Unknown]. 2008. Bebo blamed for 13-yer-old boy’s death. 12 June 2008. URL: (consulted on 6 April 2009): http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23853471-2,00.html
- [Unknown]. Communities Online: trolling and Harassment. URL: (Consulted on 1 July 2009): http://communitiesonline.homestead.com/dealingwithtrolls.html Ancer, J. 2011.“’Cutting’ and Your Teen”. In Times Live. URL (consulted on 2 December
- : http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/columnists/article964268.ece Cutting-and-your-teen Anestis, M. 2009. Joiner’s interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behaviour. URL: (consulted on 1 April 2009): http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.com psychotherapy_brown_bag_a/2009/03/joiner American Association of Suicidology. 2008. Youth Suicide Fact Sheet. URL: (consulted on 13 March 2009): http://www.suicidology.org/web/guest/stats-and-tools fact-sheets
- Bennett, M., Barrett, M., Karakozov, R.,Kipiani, J., Lyons, E.,Pavlenko, V. and Riazanova, T. 2004. Young Children’s Evaluations of the Ingroup and of Outgroups: A Multinational Study. URL: (Consulted on 16 July 2009): http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=psypapers
- Blumler, JG. And Katz, E. 1974. The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
- Britten, N. and Savill, R. Police fear internet cult inspires teen suicide. The Telegraph. 18 April 2008. URL: (Consulted on 6 April 2009): http://www.telegraph.co.uknews/uknews/1576338/Police-fear-internet-cult-inspires-teen-suicide.html
- Brown, A. 2012. “Suicide Solutions?”. In Popular Music History; Apr2012, Vol. 6 Issue 1/2, p19-37, 19p.
- Davies, K. 2008. Caught in the Web. Marie Claire. May 2008, 54-58.
- Emo Chat. 2012. About Us. URL (consulted 2 December 2012): http://www.emochatco.za/
- Gould, M. 2001 Suicide and the Media. Annals of the New york Academy of Sciences, 932(1):200 Humphrey, H. 2002. teenagers will be teenagers. Nova Publishers.
- Livingstone, S. 2008. Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers’ use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media Society, 10:393 – 411
- Martin, G. 2006. Editorial. On suicide and subcultures. Australian e-journal for the Advancement of Mental Health, 5 (3): www.auseinet.com/journal/vol5iss3/martin.pdf
- Maslow, A. H. 1943. A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review 50(4):370-96. Mc Quail, D.1983. Mass Communication Theory : An Introduction. London: Sage Naito, A. 2007. Internet Suicide in Japan: Implications for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 12: 583 – 597 Nielsen, J. 2006:
- Participation inequality: Encouraging more users to contribute. URL: (Consulted on 1 July 2009): http://www.useit.com/alertbox/participationinequality.html -
- Nxumalo, M. 2011. Alternative Kidz. URL (consulted 2 December 2012): http://www.thiis.co.za/music/alternative-kidz/.
- Phillips, David P., Lundie L. Carstensen, and Daniel Paight. 1989. Effects of Mass Media News Stories on Suicide, with New Evidence on Story Content. In Cynthia Pfeiffer ed., Suicide among youth: Perspectives on Risk and Prevention. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press
- Pratt, A. 2005. Nihilism: The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. USA: Embry Riddle University. URL (consulted on 1 July 2009): http://www.iep.utm.edu nihilism/Rapewise. 2012. About Us. URL (consulted 2 December 2012): http://www.rapewise.co.za/. Romer, D.,
- Jamieson, P. & Jamieson, H. 2006. Are News Reports of Suicide Contagious? A Stringent Test in Six U.S Cities. Journal of Communication, 56:253 – 270 Ryalls, E.2006. Emo
- Subculture: An Examination of the Kids, Music and Style that Form Emo Subculture. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the NCA 93rd Annual Convention, tBA, Chicago, il. URL: (Consulted on 1 July 2009): http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p187580_index.html
- Schlebusch, L. 2012. “Suicide prevention: a proposed national strategy for South Africa” In African Journal of Psychiatry, 15:436-440.
- Simon, L. & Kelly, T. 2007. Everybody Hurts: An Essential guide to Emo Culture.HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
- Stack, S. Media Effects. In Suicide influences and factors. 2007. URL: (consulted on 7 March 2009): http://www.deathreference.com/Sh-Sy/Suicide-Influences and-Factors.html
- Stack, Steven.2000.Media Impacts on Suicide: A Quantitative Review of 293 Findings. Social Science Quarterly 81 (2000):957–971. South African Depression and Anxiety Group (2009). Curbing teen Suicide in South Africa.URL: (consulted on 9 March 2009): http://www.sadag.co.za/index.php
- Suicide/Curbing-Teen-Suicide-in-South-Africa.html
- Thomas, L., Singh, I., Peccei, J., Jones, J. and Wareing, S. 2004. language, Society and Power: An introduction. (2ⁿᵈ ed.). Routledge.
- Williams, P. 2008. Why People Join Social Networking Sites. URL: ( Consulted on 1 July 2009): http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/861427/why_peoplejoin_social_networking_sites_pg2.html?cat=9 -
- World Health Organisation. 2000. Preventing Suicide. A Resource for Primary Health Care Workers. Geneva: WHO Press
- World Health Organisation. 2008. Preventing Suicide. A Resource for Media Professionals. Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Switzerland: WHO Press. www.facebook.com. Emo...(South Africa) (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=af83b61b5b6001eb3bd22a744d1517e&gid=7147310972&ref=search)
- ...Emo...(International) http://www.facebook.com/s.php?sid=8af83b61b5b6001eb3b22a744d1517e&init=q&sf=r&k=200000010&n=&q=EMO%20#/group.php
- sid=8af83b61b5b6001eb3bd22a744d1517e&gid=40630268654&ref=search
References
[Unknown]. 2008. Web worries after suicide spate. BBC News [Wales] 23 January 2008. URL: (consulted on 12 March 2009): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi wales/7204172.stm
[Unknown]. 2008. Bebo blamed for 13-yer-old boy’s death. 12 June 2008. URL: (consulted on 6 April 2009): http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23853471-2,00.html
[Unknown]. Communities Online: trolling and Harassment. URL: (Consulted on 1 July 2009): http://communitiesonline.homestead.com/dealingwithtrolls.html Ancer, J. 2011.“’Cutting’ and Your Teen”. In Times Live. URL (consulted on 2 December
: http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/columnists/article964268.ece Cutting-and-your-teen Anestis, M. 2009. Joiner’s interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behaviour. URL: (consulted on 1 April 2009): http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.com psychotherapy_brown_bag_a/2009/03/joiner American Association of Suicidology. 2008. Youth Suicide Fact Sheet. URL: (consulted on 13 March 2009): http://www.suicidology.org/web/guest/stats-and-tools fact-sheets
Bennett, M., Barrett, M., Karakozov, R.,Kipiani, J., Lyons, E.,Pavlenko, V. and Riazanova, T. 2004. Young Children’s Evaluations of the Ingroup and of Outgroups: A Multinational Study. URL: (Consulted on 16 July 2009): http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=psypapers
Blumler, JG. And Katz, E. 1974. The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
Britten, N. and Savill, R. Police fear internet cult inspires teen suicide. The Telegraph. 18 April 2008. URL: (Consulted on 6 April 2009): http://www.telegraph.co.uknews/uknews/1576338/Police-fear-internet-cult-inspires-teen-suicide.html
Brown, A. 2012. “Suicide Solutions?”. In Popular Music History; Apr2012, Vol. 6 Issue 1/2, p19-37, 19p.
Davies, K. 2008. Caught in the Web. Marie Claire. May 2008, 54-58.
Emo Chat. 2012. About Us. URL (consulted 2 December 2012): http://www.emochatco.za/
Gould, M. 2001 Suicide and the Media. Annals of the New york Academy of Sciences, 932(1):200 Humphrey, H. 2002. teenagers will be teenagers. Nova Publishers.
Livingstone, S. 2008. Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers’ use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media Society, 10:393 – 411
Martin, G. 2006. Editorial. On suicide and subcultures. Australian e-journal for the Advancement of Mental Health, 5 (3): www.auseinet.com/journal/vol5iss3/martin.pdf
Maslow, A. H. 1943. A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review 50(4):370-96. Mc Quail, D.1983. Mass Communication Theory : An Introduction. London: Sage Naito, A. 2007. Internet Suicide in Japan: Implications for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 12: 583 – 597 Nielsen, J. 2006:
Participation inequality: Encouraging more users to contribute. URL: (Consulted on 1 July 2009): http://www.useit.com/alertbox/participationinequality.html -
Nxumalo, M. 2011. Alternative Kidz. URL (consulted 2 December 2012): http://www.thiis.co.za/music/alternative-kidz/.
Phillips, David P., Lundie L. Carstensen, and Daniel Paight. 1989. Effects of Mass Media News Stories on Suicide, with New Evidence on Story Content. In Cynthia Pfeiffer ed., Suicide among youth: Perspectives on Risk and Prevention. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press
Pratt, A. 2005. Nihilism: The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. USA: Embry Riddle University. URL (consulted on 1 July 2009): http://www.iep.utm.edu nihilism/Rapewise. 2012. About Us. URL (consulted 2 December 2012): http://www.rapewise.co.za/. Romer, D.,
Jamieson, P. & Jamieson, H. 2006. Are News Reports of Suicide Contagious? A Stringent Test in Six U.S Cities. Journal of Communication, 56:253 – 270 Ryalls, E.2006. Emo
Subculture: An Examination of the Kids, Music and Style that Form Emo Subculture. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the NCA 93rd Annual Convention, tBA, Chicago, il. URL: (Consulted on 1 July 2009): http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p187580_index.html
Schlebusch, L. 2012. “Suicide prevention: a proposed national strategy for South Africa” In African Journal of Psychiatry, 15:436-440.
Simon, L. & Kelly, T. 2007. Everybody Hurts: An Essential guide to Emo Culture.HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Stack, S. Media Effects. In Suicide influences and factors. 2007. URL: (consulted on 7 March 2009): http://www.deathreference.com/Sh-Sy/Suicide-Influences and-Factors.html
Stack, Steven.2000.Media Impacts on Suicide: A Quantitative Review of 293 Findings. Social Science Quarterly 81 (2000):957–971. South African Depression and Anxiety Group (2009). Curbing teen Suicide in South Africa.URL: (consulted on 9 March 2009): http://www.sadag.co.za/index.php
Suicide/Curbing-Teen-Suicide-in-South-Africa.html
Thomas, L., Singh, I., Peccei, J., Jones, J. and Wareing, S. 2004. language, Society and Power: An introduction. (2ⁿᵈ ed.). Routledge.
Williams, P. 2008. Why People Join Social Networking Sites. URL: ( Consulted on 1 July 2009): http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/861427/why_peoplejoin_social_networking_sites_pg2.html?cat=9 -
World Health Organisation. 2000. Preventing Suicide. A Resource for Primary Health Care Workers. Geneva: WHO Press
World Health Organisation. 2008. Preventing Suicide. A Resource for Media Professionals. Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Switzerland: WHO Press. www.facebook.com. Emo...(South Africa) (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=af83b61b5b6001eb3bd22a744d1517e&gid=7147310972&ref=search)
...Emo...(International) http://www.facebook.com/s.php?sid=8af83b61b5b6001eb3b22a744d1517e&init=q&sf=r&k=200000010&n=&q=EMO%20#/group.php
sid=8af83b61b5b6001eb3bd22a744d1517e&gid=40630268654&ref=search