A satirical prank ended in tragedy with confirmed reports of at least two attempted suicides in connection with a fictitious news article.
A recent network glitch that led to Facebook being inaccessible to millions of users, in the central and western United States, was reported as a permanent shutdown by mainstream media outlets around the nation. The temporary outage only lasted 6 hours, but long enough for a satirical news report to be picked up and propagated through regional news mediums.
Hospitals in Wyoming and Indiana reported suicide attempts related to the bogus news story; and other hospitals in the geographically affected area reported an increase in alcohol and drug related admissions during the time frame.
Facebook is the premier social networking platform used by people, and increasingly businesses, to stay in touch and communicate with friends, families and customers. It has become of a subject of debate with it’s use as a cyber-bullying tool used to intimidate victims, the cause of significant man-hours wasted corporate cultures, and a factor in the desocialization of American culture which it presumably seeks to promote.
Sources from the two hospitals treating the suicide attempts reported that the victims described their lives crumbling, their relationships disintegrating, and life being reduced to utter meaninglessness. Mental health professionals on the scene were themselves distraught at how to respond to people who apparently were displaying symptoms similar to those experienced by long-term drug addicts facing withdrawal.
“It’s not physical, that’s the problem”, stated one nurse present when a Facebook fraud victim was admitted. “This goes beyond physical withdrawals which are transitory, and maybe even beyond being a mental defect. I think this hit them on a spiritual level.”
The original news source stated that Facebook was being permanently taken off line due to a recent court ruling awarding Paul Celig 60% of Facebook ownership. The court case, which is actually still ongoing in the courts, is based on documentation that Celig had the initial idea and funding for what became Facebook. The false report implied that Mark Zuckerberg, the presumed founder of Facebook, was not going to relinquish control of his company. He allegedly ordered the popular website be taken off-line and all databases destroyed in response to the court’s ruling.
A counselor at a successful drug rehab, one frequented by numerous celebrities, speculated on how the false news reports could easily impact people so seriously. “We have very high profile people here, but they are no different then everybody else. We all have a fundamental desire to have friends, we all want to be liked, we all want to have followers. If you take that all away from someone, there’s going to be consequences. People are going to be hurt.”
The majority of Facebook members in the United States and around the world experienced no disruption on Facebook services, and remained completely unaware of the tragedies playing out in other parts of the country. Still, many were able to empathize with the situation. “I don’t know what I would do without Facebook”, reported one mother, “I have two children in college and I might never hear from them again. I’m not sure I could live with that.”
Editors Note: Readers should be aware of satirical news articles concerning Facebook.