Due to more-intense-than-usual content in the following post, reader discretion is advised.
One night early in April, a man went to the Orem public library, signed on to their public computers, and went to a forum for ravers and other party-types. There he posted a two-part message:
"I cant do this anymore. I just wanted to let anyone out there know that it wasnt their fault. This was my choice and I hope you forgive me for what I'm about to do.
My life just isnt working out, hasnt been working out for years, and I doubt will get any better. I dont was to live alone, and without my love it has no meaning.
Im sorry."
And a bit later, "I dont care. I already took all my meds. Its just a matter of time. Im sorry..."
Aside from the supreme creepiness of the whole thing (which struck me especially hard when I found the archived post and read it for the first time in its original context), the interesting part is what followed:
Users on the board began discussing whether the message was real or not. (Real in the sense of conveying a real intent to commit suicide.) Since that particular message board software logs the IP address associated with all comments, someone was able to do a reverse-lookup on the IP address of the guy and find out that he was posting from the Orem, Utah Public Library.
Another user called the local police and told them what was going on and that the guy who'd posted the messages was also likely a heroin addict. The police went to the library and obtained the access log for the computer. They narrowed it down to four possible library users and a quick check of police records showed that one of those four had a prior arrest for heroin use.
Police went to the address in their records and found a man on the brink of death, overdosed and fading on his couch. His life was saved.
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Some thoughts.
1. It's great that the community around this guy was able to help him.
2. The Internet and the comunity where this guy chose to announce his suicide were not enough to help this guy not want to commit suicide in the first place.
3. You should forge an envelope or whatever other "authentication" the library wants you to use to get a library card and use anonymous relaying proxies when you use the Internet, if you don't want people to be able to track you down in a matter of hours.
I know, point #3 is horrible. But, c'mon. People need to understand that the Internet is not a magical fairy land -- it is part of the real world and what happens there is just as IRL as anything we do out here. Bad and good.
(This post was spurred by a report in the Deseret News. I don't frequent raver forums!)