Citation

Fratini A, Hemer SR. Cult. Med. Psychiatry 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia. susan.hemer@adelaide.edu.au.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11013-020-09671-9

PMID

32222946

Abstract

Cybersuicide, or suicide mediated by the internet in various ways, is a growing phenomenon worldwide and one which makes an often private act highly public. This paper provides an exploration of one version of cybersuicide: suicide that is livestreamed on the internet. Through an analysis of three case studies, this paper asks what light anthropological concepts of performance can shed on cybersuicide? It argues that as a public and social act, cybersuicide needs to be analyzed in terms of how an audience is attracted and retained, as well as the key roles the audience plays in the social practice. This means that cybersuicide has a different structure from suicide offline, impacting how it should be analyzed and understood.

Language: en

Keywords

Anthropology; Cybersuicide; Internet; Performance; Suicide