Angry Sister of Web Suicide: 'No One Lifted a Finger'

Social networking degrades friendship, can lead to suicide

(NEWSER) - Facebook and MySpace are degrading our ability to relate to one another and pushing young people to suicide, the head of the Catholic Church in England tells the Telegraph. Archbishop Vincent Nichols is concerned that social-networking websites encourage teens to form only “transient relationships,” which can leave them feeling hopeless when they dissipate. More»

Authorities perplexed, send experts to schools

(NEWSER) - A 16-year-old schoolgirl found hanged in the woods yesterday became the 17th youth suicide in the area of Bridgend, Wales, since early 2007. The rash of suicides has focused intense scrutiny on the town of 39,000 and its surrounding borough, where baffled police have so far failed to unearth any common motive linking the victims, the Guardian reports. Victims have ranged in age from 15 to 26. More»

Prosecutor pressing for internet harassment laws

(NEWSER) - No charges will be filed in the cyberbullying case that led a young girl to commit suicide, Wired reports. A Missouri prosecutor found there was not enough evidence to prove criminal intent on the part of mother Lori Drew and others who launched an online bullying campaign against 13-year-old Megan Meier through a hoax MySpace persona called "Josh." More»

MyDeathSpace collects obits, profiles and more

(NEWSER) - A site that collects obituaries, often of young people, and links to their social-network profiles is gaining traction, the AP reports. MyDeathSpace.com lists more than 2,700 deaths and receives more than 100,000 hits daily. "This site does kind of let you look into the heart of darkness," one professor says. More»

Tyler Clementi's roommate gives his side of the story

(NEWSER) - Dharun Ravi says he did something a lot of college kids do: He unthinkingly pranked an awkward, less-cool roommate. But that prank was spying on a homosexual hookup via webcam, that roommate was Tyler Clementi, and Ravi has a hate-crime conviction to show for what he says was a moment of teenage stupidity. Ravi sits down with the Star-Ledger to give his side of the story in a surprisingly sympathetic interview. Highlights:

• On what he was thinking: "I wasn’t. I got caught up in what I thought was funny, and my own ego. I never really thought about what it would mean to Tyler. I know that’s wrong, but that’s the truth."
• On not taking a plea deal: "I’m never going to regret not taking the plea. I would have had to testify that I did what I did to intimidate Tyler and that would be a lie. I won’t ever get up there and tell the world I hated Tyler because he was gay, or tell the world I was trying to hurt or intimidate him because it’s not true."