@article{ref1,
title=""Suicide machine" seekers: Transgressing suicidal taboos online",
journal="Learning Inquiry",
year="2008",
author="Seko, Y.",
volume="2",
number="3",
pages="181-199",
abstract="Internet-mediated joint suicides or &quot;Net group suicides&quot; (Net shinjū) has become a significant social problem in Japan since 2002. Despite a privileged view of suicide-related cyberspaces as a murky underworld, there has been little study about how the participants of such spaces interact and perform their &quot;suicidal&quot; identity. Viewing cyberspace as a unique discursive playground that sprouts a myriad of transgressive narratives, this paper examines &quot;Suicide Club&quot; (Jisatsu Club) an online discussion forum that facilitated the largest &quot;Net group suicide&quot; in Japanese history. A thematic content analysis of actual postings on &quot;Suicide Club&quot; reveals the double-edged nature of the forum. While some participants were determined to seek suicide companions or what I metaphorically call &quot;suicide machines,&quot; others used the board as a social outlet to freely disclose their pent-up struggles, attempting to collectively transgress social taboos of suicide. © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1558-2981",
doi="10.1007/s11519-008-0035-3",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11519-008-0035-3"
}