Website logs deaths of MySpace users

[T_i_B]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/21/news.myspace

Here are the headlines: Hillary Rutledge, 19, was killed when the car she was driving hit two tractor-trailers; Desirae Scott, 19, passed away from an accidental drug overdose; Nathan Benner, 22, drowned and his body was found in a gorge; Mat Hirstein, 30, died when he fell off a ladder and hit his head while trying to catch a raccoon.

Welcome to the world of mydeathspace.com, a website set up by a 26-year-old legal clerk from California that records the deaths of MySpace users. Since its launch in December 2005 the site has accumulated 3,000 obituaries and 11,000 members. Unsurprisingly, given the nature of the networking site MySpace, most of the deaths are of young people, many of them suicides, drug-related or road-related.

"Life can end at any moment," said Mike Patterson, the website's founder. "Kids are kids: we have every kind of death imaginable on the site. Most of the deaths are car accidents and teens behaving irresponsibly. Most of them are preventable."

While Mr Patterson has claimed an altruistic motive for the website - he bills it as a precautionary forum to warn young people of the consequences of irresponsible behaviour - it may carry greater significance as showing how customs are changing. Death and mourning were once treated with reverence, spoken about in hushed tones, if at all; on an internet forum the tone is anything but restrained.

[Heidi]

1. That site is death porn, in my opinion. (nt)

[FunkyLeprechaun]

2. A lot of those deaths noted are gun-related

:popcorn:

[Wcross]

3. Seems like car accidents & drug overdoses are common too.

I didn't know you could OD on Ecstasy but then again I don't know much about the stuff. As far as the gun related deaths it looks as if suicide is more common than homicide.

[AllegroRondo]

6. car accidents are the #1 cause of death for 16-20 year olds

so its expected to be pretty common on that list.

[T_i_B]

4. Here's the website

Wonder if there's an equivalent for Facebook?

http://www.mydeathspace.com/

[supernova]

5. Could be more like a virtual cemetary

which I think is fine.

But the flashing add at the top feels wrong. :crazy:

[Pool Hall Ace]

9. Oh yeah, the ad is tacky.

I'm seeing an ad for an upcoming Nickelback concert.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

7. How ironic that in death they find the fame they searched for in life

Well, "fame" is relative, but imagine someone with a really awesome voice like George Takai or Alan Rickman saying that and it sounds cool.

[no name no slogan]

8. The suicides are the saddest

Michelle Crawford's made me cry.