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1,082 Facebook 'Friends' Fail to Prevent U.K. Woman's Suicide

by Matthew Zuras on January 7, 2011 at 02:50 PM

simone backSimone Back, a charity worker living in the U.K., was depressed. She posted a Facebook status update on Christmas Day, reading, "Took all my pills be dead soon so bye bye every one." None of Back's 1,082 Facebook friends decided to call emergency services, and some even mocked her. One of the first responses on her page read, "She ODs all the time and she lies." Back's lifeless body was discovered the following day.

Some friends did post their concerns, but not in time to save Back's life. "Did you catch the part about Simone taking pills??" wrote one. "[The] 'bye bye' part?? Did anyone go by personally and check on Simone.. or call 999?? what's wrong with you people??" That's no consolation for Back's mother, who was finally contacted 17 hours after Back posted her suicide note. She deleted the original posting after her daughter's body was found, and asked the naysayers to call off their indifference. "My daughter Simone passed away today so please leave her alone now," she wrote.

This is not the first online call for help -- perhaps most notable was the case of Abraham Biggs -- but it certainly throws into question the validity of our new definition of "friend." A statement from Facebook says that the company is "deeply saddened" to hear of Back's death, as well it should be. While the social network shouldn't be held responsible for the actions of its users, what is the point of its exponentially aggregating network if it can't prevent a death announced to over 1,000 people? In Biggs's case, the users who mocked him were largely unknown users who tuned into his final livestream. Back posted to Facebook, probably because she thought her "friends" might actually care, or even help.

Tags: facebook, FacebookFriends, SimoneBack, SocialNetworking, suicide, SuicideNote, top

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