Yeah Guys! STOP BEING JURKS!

[MrAngryFace]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20148567/

OMG! UR totally dead!!!1!
MyDeathSpace.com jerks don’t get that grief actually hurts

Still, stand back far enough, and you get a pretty interesting picture of how we Americans handle death on the Internet — just like IRL (in real life), not very well.

Founded by 26-year-old paralegal Mike Patterson, MyDeathSpace.com posts the MySpace profiles of the dead — mostly teenagers and 20-somethings. Any connected news stories are featured, as well as forums where site members discuss the deceased, his or her MySpace profile, and the manner of death. Oddly, several news gathering agencies (apparently without Internet access) write about the site as a place where youths can grieve, express their feelings, get support and hugs and flowers and teddy bears and God and the Bible and blah blah blah. It is not.

MyDeathSpace.com, with its amateur HTML, cartoon skull graphics and pop-up and banner ads, is a parasitic business that exists solely to exploit another business (that would be MySpace) — and Death. Not to worry – MySpace and Death can take it. Now let’s talk about grieving family and friends who, via Google happen upon MyDeathSpace.com forum exchanges in which a loved one’s death receives the same vitriolic snark Television Without Pity members might use to shred a particularly awful episode of “The O.C.”

In an adept Salon.com story about the site, Jamie Pietras includes an anecdote about woman who identified herself as the mother and grandmother of the murder victims discussed in a MyDeathSpace.com forum. When she dared to criticize the cruel conversation, she received this tender response: “I am sorry about your loss, but this is AMERICA, land of the free …” 

OK, yeah, let’s all never take for granted the First Amendment right that allows Patterson to operate such a site, even as he paves his way to Hell. And yeah, we’ve all heard his tired-ass offender’s refrain about how if we don’t like it, don’t look at it. (FYI: It ain’t so easy looking away when it’s about someone you love.) But maybe it wouldn’t be quite as rotten if Patterson stopped crowing to reporters that he built MyDeathSpace.com as a warning to kids about how they can die horrible deaths if they’re not careful. Because it’s A) a load of crap and B) if he’s such a genius of the human condition, then he’d know that kids will always die horrible, tragic, stupid deaths. If anything, MyDeathSpace.com risks contagion, inspiring kids to try the tragic, stupid things celebrated on the site.

Like CourtTV.com and its sister sites, Crime Library and The Smoking Gun, MyDeathSpace.com is about morbid curiosity. As someone who hits those first three sites every day before breakfast, I’m all for that — so long as you’re not a jerk about it. Black humor is a vital coping mechanism, whether you’re an outsider shaken by the evening news or someone struggling with a loved one’s death. Even the darkest stuff can be okay to laugh at.

For example, the 2006 World of Warcraft funeral massacre: A player passed away IRL (for real this time) and her team organized (and publicized) an in-game memorial for her character. While there are battle-free areas within the game’s environment, the memorial took place in a war zone. You don’t need the History Channel to guess what happened next. In a classic “fish in a barrel” maneuver, enemy fighters descended on the unarmed mourners, pretty much wiping them out. A video of the onslaught popped up all over the Internet (as these things do) and while many in the WoW community were offended, others, along with non-gamers found it hilarious. And while the late gamer's family may have been hurt, the so-called attack was not personal.

World of Warcraft, as the name implies, is about war. That’s what happens in war. Plus, it’s a game. You wouldn’t hold a funeral on an active paintball field ... though if you did, guaranteed hilarity would ensue. Less funny are the implications of a memorial for a real person held in all sincerity within the confines of an online fantasy game. As the line between real and virtual life continues to blur, it’s no wonder some of us are forgetting how to behave.

I feel bad, but ive seen a video of that funeral. 'wuz her favorite place to fish..oh SHIT WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!'

[Ichirou]

I remember being amused by that video as well.  The MyDeathSpace.com thing is fucked up tho.

[Van Cruncheon]

yeah, the teenaged "it's the FIRST AMENDMENT" bullshit prevalent on the internet is really irritating. i'm fine with hateful humor (obviously; my humor runs to really mean); just don't try to act like it's somehow moral, respectable, or dignified. i know when i'm being a shitwit asshole for lols, and i won't pretend i'm being a respectable individual when i choose to ride the line between good and awful taste.

[Himu]

The funeral massacre was hilarious

[Cyanista]

That article goes from ragging on insensitive internet (a free-for-all warzone if ever there has been one) jerks to ragging on people for memorializing their online friend? 

What's the byline on that piece of trash - The Misanthropic Bastard?

[MrAngryFace]

its some lady, ive been looking at her previous articles and its the equivalent of some crybaby blog. I guess im just fascinated with a big news outlet like msnbc covering lame internet events im familiar with lol.

[Saint Cornelius]

You make misanthropy sound like it's a BAD thing, Cyanista!

[Cyanista]

Like all powers, it is how you USE it that counts.  The thing is, I'm not trying to read some aimless, churlish blog entry when I'm firing up MSN...or any time, really. 

[MrAngryFace]

there is no escape, I will force an encounter!

[Phoenix Dark]

distinguished mentally-challenged fellows should have had the funeral in a park...IN A FUCKING ALLIANCE CITY LIKE STORMWIND

[Saint Cornelius]

Like all powers, it is how you USE it that counts.  The thing is, I'm not trying to read some aimless, churlish blog entry when I'm firing up MSN...or any time, really. 

I'm just glad they didn't use the word "dunderheaded", as I'm STILL heated. 

[bagofeyes]

I loved that funeral video

[DJ_Tet]

I loved that funeral video

If it's the video I'm thinking of, the music TOTALLY made the vid 

[Yeti]

its some lady, ive been looking at her previous articles and its the equivalent of some crybaby blog. I guess im just fascinated with a big news outlet like msnbc covering lame internet events im familiar with lol.

 

[Candyflip]

distinguished mentally-challenged fellows should have had the funeral in a park...IN A FUCKING ALLIANCE CITY LIKE STORMWIND

They should not have done it period. How lame is that shit? I get enough crap for playing this game as it is. Not that I really give two shits what people think, but I mean come on. No need to pile on the embarrassment.