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November 23, 2008
Virtual audience, real suicide: The rise of true reality TV
The uproar over the live Internet webcast of the suicide of 19-year-old Abraham Biggs, Jr. (above) last Wednesday, which was accompanied by real-time on-screen sidebar commentary from a number of amused and horrified viewers, is now being followed by a call for tougher regulation of Internet sites so as to prevent such things from happening again.
The genie is out of the bottle and cannot be put back inside.
Neal Stephenson, in his iconic novel 1992 "Snow Crash," described how jacking in to the lives of others not merely to observe but to actually experience their sensations and emotions in real time would become a staple of entertainment in the near future.
Those whose actions and reactions were most compelling would become the leading actors and actresses of the mind-melded new world.
Coming soon to a smartphone or computer terminal near you.
Stay tuned.
November 23, 2008 at 12:01 PM | Permalink
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Neal Stephenson, in his iconic novel 1992 "Snow Crash," described how jacking in to the lives of others not merely to observe but to actually experience their sensations and emotions in real time would become a staple of entertainment in the near future.
No he didn't. His cyberspace "metaverse" (invented shortly before the Web existed) was basically just Second Life. There's a strong brain-hacking thread in the story, but everybody's very surprised when it happens, and, the technology involved probably wouldn't be a lot of use for entertainment purposes. Making a whole country so immensely entertained that they don't care that you're killing them, perhaps.
You might be thinking of a William Gibson story. The idea's popped up in lots of other sci-fi old and new, of course.
Posted by: Daniel Rutter | Nov 25, 2008 9:16:12 AM
This is a sad event. And it is inevitable in a lot of kids lives...I know that time of life was horrible for me and I tried to commit suicide as well. In my case, it was soooo botched that I started laughing as I even knew how pathetic it was. And I never stopped.
Most are not this lucky. And most could be saved just by others paying attention and talking to them. Or referring them to the appropriate support. The internet is NEVER proper support for these types of people. Unfortunately, the internet proves it to be the same anonymous, crude place that it always has because there is little connection between the people in it...
Posted by: clif | Nov 23, 2008 7:39:56 PM
Leaving aside all the internet repercussions, just considering the human-beingness of it -- this sad, pathetic, tragic act affected me more deeply than I could've ever thought it might. It will be a long time fading out of my mind.
Posted by: BH | Nov 23, 2008 6:28:14 PM
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