title: Suicide announcement on Facebook.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The media and the Internet may be having an influence on suicidal behavior. Online social networks such as Facebook represent a new facet of global information transfer. The impact of these online social networks on suicidal behavior has not yet been evaluated.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To discuss potential effects of suicide notes on Facebook on suicide prevention and copycat suicides, and to create awareness among health care professionals.
  
  
  METHODS
  We present a case involving a suicide note on Facebook and discuss potential consequences of this phenomenon based on literature found searching PubMed and Google.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There are numerous reports of suicide notes on Facebook in the popular press, but none in the professional literature. Online social network users attempted to prevent planned suicides in several reported cases. To date there is no documented evidence of a copycat suicide, directly emulating a suicide announced on Facebook.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Suicide notes on online social networks may allow for suicide prevention via the immediate intervention of other network users. But it is not yet clear to what extent suicide notes on online social networks actually induce copycat suicides. These effects deserve future evaluation and research.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Buehlstrasse 20, Bern, Switzerland. thomas.ruder@irm.unibe.ch
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Ruder
authors.forename: Gary M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Hatch
authors.forename: Garyfalia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ampanozi
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Thali
authors.forename: Nadja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061108:Social Media; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology; D000092864:Suicide Prevention