The Web 2.0 Suicide Machine is a service that helps users tired of MySpace,

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...

and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, to "commit suicide in social networks", by automatically "removing their private content and friend relationships" (but without deleting or deactivating their accounts). The service is part of the non-profit foundation

WORM Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...

, based in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The "Web 2.0 Suicide Machine" has, as of January 2010, assisted with more than 1,000 virtual deaths, ending more than 80,500 friendships on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and removing 276,000 tweets from

How it works

Rather than deleting

user account A user is a person who utilizes a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified to the system by a username (or user name). Other terms for username include login name, screenname (or screen name), accoun ...

s, it removes private content and friendships. To start the suicide process, the user has to provide their login credential for the

social network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...

from which they want to be deleted, and then "watch your life passing by and reflect upon your real & virtual friends", while private content and friend relationships are removed. In the end the user is included in a memorial album of all the suicides, with their profile picture, their name and their "last words".

Capabilities

"Web 2.0 Suicide Machine" has listed the functions of which the service is capable thus far as the following: The Facebook option is no longer available on Web 2.0 Suicide Machine as Facebook sent a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...

(C&D) letter on January 6, 2010, demanding that suicidemachine.org stop their actions. ;

* Logging into your account * Changing your password and your profile picture * Removing all your business connections * Logging out ; Myspace * Logging into your account * Removing all your friends * Leaving a status message that you've committed suicide * Logging out ;

* Logging into your account * Changing your password and your profile picture * Removing all people you follow * Removing all your followers * Removing all your tweets * Logging out

Controversy

In January 2010, Facebook managed to block the service for a short time and sent a

letter from its lawyers. The service remained up and running, but the website has since ceased operation. Its creators "consider this project as a piece of socio-political

net art upright=1.3, "Simple Net Art Diagram", a 1997 work by Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden Internet art (also known as net art) is a form of new media art distributed via the Internet. This form of art circumvents the traditional dominance of the phys ...

References

External links

* {{Online social networking Web 2.0 Social networking services Internet properties established in 2009

How it works

Capabilities

Controversy

See also

References

External links