A postmodern morality play is unfolding online. We are still struggling to figure out what it means to be a human being on the internet. Anonymity makes communication easier, but it also makes it less meaningful. Can 30,000 strangers on the internet convince an anonymous person about which they know very little not to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge?
PostSecret
— an art community art site that in which people mail their secrets in
on homemade postcards, anonymously, then said secrets get posted online
— has joined efforts with Facebook to save the life of a San
Franciscan who, according to a recently
published postcard, could commit suicide this summer.The card, which was posted on June 6, reads:
I have lived in San Francisco since I was young. I
am illegal. I am not wanted here. I don’t belong anywhere. This summer I
plan to jump off the Golden Gate.Since the postcard went live, a Facebook
page aimed at saving the life of the author now boasts over 32,000
members. Time
reports: “Within 24 hours, nearly 20,000 people had signed up for a
Facebook group titled “please don’t jump,” which was later linked
beneath the secret on the Post Secret blog, linking in thousands of
supportive comments.”
Link (via sfist)