Florida Teen Commits Suicide Live on Internet

Just when you thought you'd heard and seen everything, a Florida teen committed suicide via live streaming video via Justin TV , a forum where users can broadcast live video of their activities and interests. Earlier in the day Abraham K. Biggs had posted his promise to take own life on a website, BodyBuilding.com which actually has nothing to do with bodybuilding but is a chat site. This sad story is not just a testament to the frailty of the mind and the scourge of youth suicide, but also demonstrates the power of the Web 2.0 revolution, particularly social networking, blogs, video sharing sites, etc. in enabling ad hoc self-publication with minimum technical knowledge.

Abraham Biggs, 19, from Pembroke Pines, near Miami, killed himself hours after announcing his intention to do so on his blog.

His family have condemned the website viewers and operators for failing to save him. Local police have launched an investigation.

Authorities say Abraham Biggs took an overdose of anti-depressive drugs.

He posted messages online telling people he was going to kill himself and then started streaming live pictures from his home.

Reports say that some of viewers who logged in to watch began to encourage the teenager to commit suicide, others tried to dissuade him.

After several hours, when he had not moved some viewers finally notified the site's moderator, who then called the police.

The boy's sister said: "They got hits, they got viewers, nothing happened for hours."

It is unclear how many people watched the suicide unfold. Some reports suggest that some viewers thought it was a hoax.

The last transmission from the webcam is of a police officer bursting into Abraham Biggs's room, when he discovers his body and then he places his hand over the camera.

The footage has since been taken down and his father is now calling for more regulation of chatrooms.

One can logon Bigg's Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/forgettingthepastagain. I included a screen capture of his page above and some other pictures from his Myspace albums. You'll notice that he wrote about himself, "Hi there, Mr. Biggs speaking. I'm a good hearted guy, I care a lot about my friends and my family and I would do almost anything for them. I'm the kind of person that is there for my friends regardless of time, I tell all my friends even if it's 3-4AM and they need someone to talk that they can always call and I'll never turn them away. I am very goal oriented, I know what I want to do with my life and I'm working towards it. I'm a nice guy but I'm not a carpet, I don't let people walk on me, so as long as you stay on my good side there won't be any problems. Ok that's all I have to say if you wanna find out more just message me."

There were several other things to note on his page: Biggs apparently was a chain smoker, drove a Scion tC, enjoyed nightlife and especially was a fan of events by a promotional group called Candy Man Ent, LLC. He wrote on their Myspace page that he was looking forward to their next event on December 4th which was to be held at
Passion Nightclub/Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL. He last logged into his Myspace account on November 19, the day of his death, and his last status was, "The girl who loves me is a gold digger, the girl I wanted to marry is a whore, the girl I'm interested in now swears I'm gay...God has a sense of humor."

Having had loved ones who committed or attempted suicide, I can say with compassion for Bigg's family that things are not always what they seem. Although the father admitted that his son had some mental problems, just having mental problems may not necessarily be a precursor to suicide--after all consider the story of Coach Tony Dungy's son, James who hung himself. Looking at Bigg's Myspace page, you can tell he was someone who at least appeared to enjoy being active and being in the company of other youth from different pictures of him with friends. What a sad way for life to end for someone who reportedly had a promising future career as a paramedic.

I can't possibly surmise as to what was going on in his head, though he suffered from bipolar disorder. Obviously he knew that he was going to die. Did he think that since he was going to die, he might as well have an audience? It was reported that an estimated 1,500 people may have watched Biggs in his final hours. Was this final act of attention seeking? Or was he desperately hoping that someone would stop him? Other questions remain like why those he communicated with about his suicide didn't take do anything to stop him. The answer may be because Biggs had on several previous occasions threatened to take his life. It is possible that friends and others may not have taken him seriously due to his past threats. Yet, Texas Christian University professor Keith Whitworth, writes that "technology blurs the lines between reality and that which is not real." Whitworth posits that even for those who thought that he might carry out his threat, the impersonal nature of the Internet may have allowed viewers to be indifferent toward Biggs' fate, whereas had he been in the same room, some would have been much quicker to intervene.

All we know is that Biggs left a suicide note behind: "I have come to believe that my life has all been meaningless. I keep trying and I keep failing. I have thought about and attempted suicide many times in the past. I used to think of my failure as some mystical way of telling me that I was really meant for something meaningful."