I'm furious. · 5:33am Jan 17th, 2020
In this blog, I talked about how a kid my family was close with had committed suicide. And all day, it lingered in my head if there were any warning signs I could have missed. But that wasn't the case. Oh no.
Turns out, he had strangled himself to death in an accident. What was the accident? Well, according to a girl he was FaceTiming with, he was like, "Look what I can do," doing an online challenge to see how long he could choke himself before passing out, because apparently you experience some sort of high from the blood loss to your brain. Now, this is the same kid who saw a video about putting a pile of hand sanitizer on your palm and then lighting it on fire, so he and his friends started doing it at Scout Camp. And he did spend a lot of time on TikTok, and on other social media platforms and toxic gaming communities. He probably watched some dumb video and wanted to try it out. And this isn't a one-time thing, oh no.
This is only slightly better than if he was feeling suicidal all this time, because if that was the case, he would have been hurting inside for a long time and hiding it from people. And I don't have to feel bad because I didn't do more to help him. But instead, this is a repeat of that stupid freaking idiotic Tide Pod challenge. Now I have the online challenges and social media to blame instead of myself. And I hate pretty much everything about the whole situation. I hate social media now for promoting this sort of sick thing. I hate my feelings for feeling angry. And I hate how I feel the need to let you all know that the internet can be cancerous.
It can be wonderful--how else could I have met all of you?--but it's dark and filthy, and prideful and boastful, and it makes me feel awful the longer I stay on them. Making clickbait news? Producing mediocre content on YouTube? Becoming an Instagram model? Moving to that dunghole, TikTok, to leak your nudes? What purpose do any of these actions have? How do they brighten the world? Everyone's in it for the attention and money, and they will pay through the nose to get it. Nobody's genuine or lovable anymore! There's ordinary people, of course, but all we ordinary people see on the internet is people whoring themselves out for ad revenue or donations from followers--and ads, and corporations, and dooming news, and idiocy from celebrities, and overwhelming pressure telling us we're missing out on something.
And I am tired. I don't want any more of this. I want a break from Facebook, and from corporate websites, and the people who flaunt themselves in a spacious building of splendor that's ultimately vapid and empty. I don't know about you, but nothing they have to offer me is anything I could want. Especially when it results in the death of my friend.
Remember, oh dear friend... that this world is not our home.
I'm so, incredibly sorry you're going through this. It isn't fair, it isn't right, and you and yours have been wronged. Someone -- everyone involved -- had to suffer something they didn't deserve, because of something else, and that's not excusable. Not in a single way.
I said it before, and my apologies if it isn't helpful, but... God's here for you. He's here, He's with his arms open. Remember?:
I promise things are going to be better. Not now, admittedly. But soon. I promise.
Then sleep. Figuratively, and literally. Take a break; take a breather. Find your peace again. You will be alright.
Oh ... that.
I didn't need the internet to be that stupid when I was younger. Even the adult who was there had done it back in the 70s (my science teacher strangely enough.)
Yeah, only marginally better, but only in that he wasn't hurting for a long time. There's no words to accurately sum up the mix of feelings I have about this news, but that doesn't mean my sympathy is any less. The grief just tempered into regret for a life cut short while there was still potential.
Just realize that there was nothing you could have done, the "Look what I can do." mentality is one that only experience can break, I've found. Unfortunately this one ended tragically.
I...really don't know what to say about this, beyond the fact that his death is no less a tragedy and should not have happened.
his death still hit pretty hard.
I am speechless.
Well... Shit. Brady, I'm so sorry .
*hugs*
So basically you're telling me that I defied my own beliefs in an attempt to somewhat honour the death of a person who was close to you, who killed themselves... Because of a stupid internet challenge? I have no regrets, even though his death was a pointless and stupid one, a good person died all the same, that's the important thing, so that's what I'll focus on instead of looking for things to blame, and that's what I'd recommend you do.
Keep in mind, this is just what I personally recommend, and I'd never try and make you feel like you should listen to me or take any advice I might give. What I think you should do is forget about casting blame for the time being, the fact that you're so emotionally charged about something like this shows nothing but how good and caring of a person you are, and I respect that immensely, but I believe that casting blame is something that you should postpone for now. You'll have all the time in the world to be enraged at those who were responsible for this later, but for now I believe your time is best spent on Chris, remembering him and being there for those who mourn as well. I'm not saying you shouldn't be mad, or that the anger you feel is bad, because it's not. Just please don't put too much focus into things that aren't that important right now, that's all I ask.
Once again, you don't have to listen to anything I say, whether you think what I'm saying is dumb, and think of the things I've said as redundant, or if you take what I've said into account, and think of what I've said as correct, so long as you're ok, then I'm good too.
I feel so bad for you!!!
Facebook really is a mess of a website... Along with Twitter, it's a virture signal hole of despair.
Yikes. That sounds nasty.
That's messed up. I'm sorry to hear that. I just don't see the point in participating those "challenges". Sometimes, people lose their human sense for AdSense.
5187709
I know. You're right about that. And I don't want to be angry. I'd much rather be happy. I hate how angry I am at it all, though. That's what I'm mostly mad about.
I'll do my best to keep it out of mind. That's the best I can do. Thanks for all that. You're awesome, Yeet.
Oh God. I think i heard of these. I just hope really dangerous and stupid trends like that stupid tide pod challenge are gone And whoever comes up with these challenges, FUCK.YOU.
5187762
My dude, I at least feel sorry that it happened. And he was a good kid. Come on.
I am speechless.
Absolutely speechless.
Things like this make me lose hope in humanity. The whole tide pod challenge was sickening, I was so glad when that was over, and now this?
What the hell was he thinking? Stupid f****** trends. How many other people will die until this is over?
5187781
I'm sorry he had to die because of it! And he was twelve years old! He did something stupid, but I'm still sad because he's gone. What, did you think I'd write it off as soon as I heard the news? A human life was lost, and for a stupid reason. In fact, that makes me feel sorry even more.
5187760
I hope they receive the most severe punishment from their parents.
This is why I don't do challenges that are from the internet because you don't know if the challenge is dangerous or not. It's a waste of time to do a pathetic challenge. The ice bucket challenge, all though, was for a good cause.
Sorry about your friend.
I once told my mum if you ever find I died doing something really stupid, feel free to reposition my corpse to something more respectful before pretending to find me. It'll make the funeral less awkward. (I hope saying that wasn't disrespectful)
Again, all I can really say is I'm sorry. Especially to go out like that...geez.
I don't really think social media itself is at fault. Social media, and the Internet in general, is a tool. Created and used by flawed human beings. Dumb ideas have been around since the dawn of time. It's just now they spread faster. On the flip side, it means that they can be identified and stopped faster, but that won't erase the damage that they still caused.
But that's for another day. For now, I'm sorry for your friend.
...
That is just...I cant even find the words to describe how I am feeling right now
.
I'm sorry Brady...that's...all I can really say right now
.
I'm sorry for the loss of this kid that you knew, Brady. It's sad knowing something like this happens.
I agree with you 100%, friend
I’m so sorry that this happened to you. You are so right when you say that the internet has good and bad. Just know, that God loves you, and we are here for you. We always will be. Just try and take a breath, step back and rest.
thumbs.gfycat.com/AggravatingExaltedAfricancivet-small.gif
This honestly makes me sick to my stomach...humanity sometimes really tests my faith in it.
So, I haven't really been around for a bit, long story short shit hit the fan and went through to orbit, so I barely had any time to be on here and talk. Everything's settled down now though, and I realised I didn't check up on you after this whole fiasco so now I feel a bit guilty for not trying to see if my friend is ok. How are things going? I hope you're feeling better. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose someone like that, and I'm once again sorry for not checking up on you sooner.
At the very least, you still have me right? Me and my friendship, for all that may mean to you, or anyone else. I hope you're ok.
5195358
I'm doing all right, yeah. Mostly focusing on my work and how it's kicking my butt. I haven't forgotten about Chris, but he's not on my mind.
5195359
I'm glad to hear that you're ok, I honestly feel kind of stupid for worrying about the minute possibility that you wouldn't be ok, sorry for that.