19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv • Hacker News Board

Re: 19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv

#41

Post by pchivers » Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 1:17 AM UTC

goldsmith wrote: post #8

he told u he was hardcore

I downvoted this comment, thinking it was just a silly remark, but now I realize that it's a reference to the Brandon Vedas death:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Vedas

Re: 19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv

#42

Post by tlrobinson » Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 1:19 AM UTC

jasonbentley wrote: post #2

A kid broadcasts his death on your service, allegedly egged on by your community, and your CEO statement falls back on cut-and-paste boilerplate? Do better. Fast.

It seems like it was mostly the bodybuilding.com (currently down) forum members that were doing the egging. Justin.tv happened to be caught in the middle.

Google cache: http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:iCJ0Fwq-DVwJ:forum.body...

Re: 19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv

#43

Post by aswanson » Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 1:22 AM UTC

DaniFong wrote: post #30

I'm holding back tears. We must find a way to make the internet a nicer place. Such astonishing cruelty breeds here. Why?

We have to face the fact that some of us are simply devoid of human empathy, on or off the internet.

Re: 19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv

#44

Post by jyothi » Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 1:22 AM UTC

jasonbentley wrote: post #39

jyothi wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not what you say that matters but the action - what you feel and do. Yes Justin.tv can say for PR "oh I am deeply shocked and we here would all mourn for 30 days." Lets restrict animated false talks. edit: I know I am going to be downmodded for being bluntly realistic.

I'd wager that everyone at Justin.tv is shocked and saddened. Too bad nobody knows that for sure.

Thats better. Act is supreme than statements given to press. All this press and legal are forcing everyone to lead a false life. one of their true self and one for the press and legal.

Re: 19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv

#45

Post by uuilly » Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 1:24 AM UTC

I'm sorry to the family and friends of the kid, suicide is the only kind of death that never makes sense no matter how much time passes...

As for justin.tv this could cut both ways. The family could sue, their traffic could go nuclear or both could happen. I don't think justin.tv did anything wrong but if you can sue McDonalds for making coffee too hot you definitely have a shot at this. This could also make national news and justin.tv will attract millions of viewers. I think that they need to be really careful to play down any real or perceived financial benefit that comes from this. They got a lot of attention when the cops banged down his door and this will be a much bigger deal. Being "the place to go" for shocking live videos is a double edged sword. Maybe they should donate to charity in the kid's name?

While a confused teenager's suicide is a tragedy, j.tv is also a victim here. The kid unwittingly put a bunch of other young guys he's never met who are just trying to make a startup in the middle of what may become a major witch hunt.

Good luck with this...

Re: 19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv

#46

Post by sofal » Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 1:27 AM UTC

tlrobinson wrote: post #37

DaniFong wrote: post #30

I'm holding back tears. We must find a way to make the internet a nicer place. Such astonishing cruelty breeds here. Why?

I think for a lot of people there's a huge disconnect between internet and reality. On the internet it's often just words on a page, with no association to real people. Also, there's so much shocking material and people joking around on the Internet sometimes it's hard to realize what's "real" and what's not. People like guy who pranked Zed Shaw a couple weeks ago certainly don't help: http://zedshaw.com/blog/2008-10…

Having a vile, boisterous, abusive, and slanderous alter ego for your blog personality probably doesn't help too much either.

Re: 19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv

#47

Post by river_styx » Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 1:28 AM UTC

tdavis wrote: post #11

comatose_kid wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing your day job involves creating content for greeting cards?

This reply makes every down-vote worth it. Good show, sir!

I actually had to scroll up to the banner to make sure I was still on Hacker News and not reddit.

Re: 19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv

#48

Post by lacker » Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 1:28 AM UTC

comatose_kid wrote: post #4

tdavis wrote: post #3

Pills? If you're going to live broadcast your own death, make it more interesting than watching paint dry. Sheesh.

I'm guessing your day job involves creating content for greeting cards?

Actually he's a cofounder of ticketstumbler.

Re: 19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv

#49

Post by rksprst » Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 1:30 AM UTC

tlrobinson wrote: post #42

jasonbentley wrote: post #2

A kid broadcasts his death on your service, allegedly egged on by your community, and your CEO statement falls back on cut-and-paste boilerplate? Do better. Fast.

It seems like it was mostly the bodybuilding.com (currently down) forum members that were doing the egging. Justin.tv happened to be caught in the middle. Google cache: http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:iCJ0Fwq-DVwJ:forum.body...

Also: http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:r5eE7w8sqEQJ:forum.body...

http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:Y6Es8cNik58J:forum.body...

Be interesting to see if some of those guys get tried with second degree manslaughter or something similar.

Re: 19 year old from Florida commits suicide on Justin.tv

#50

Post by swombat » Fri, Nov 21, 2008, 1:40 AM UTC

Idiots: also available on justin.tv.