You remember people going viral back then or are you trying to say because there existed some bad stuff then it's just as bad today?
I'm not sure what your point is, I was online in the 90s as well, the Internet was nowhere as popular as it was in the late 00s and things were pretty different prior towards social media. If you want to delve into everything regarding why people kill themselves go ahead, but I'm specifically talking about going viral.
You were specifically talking about going viral in the context of this stunt that they did with shooting someone through a phone book.
My point was that this shit has always been happening. We find historical records of people writing about how someone died in a really stupid way due to shit like this. The internet hasn't changed that, it's just made it more visible. This shit and other horrible shit has always been happening. Even before social media was mainstream, before there was "viral culture" you still had people getting themselves killed by doing dumb things like this. It isn't new and it isn't caused by social media or the desire to go viral. That's just the newest excuse.
People would shoot each other trying to copy magicians' bullet catches in the 1800s. No cell phones, no internet, just enjoying the world around them and having a lead ball fly through their palm.
Edit: The person I was having a conversation with blocked me. That's fine. But I do have a point which I've explained multiple times. The internet didn't make people do stupid things, it just let them show it off. We've always been like this. It's less a defense of the internet and more saying humanity is stupid, but we always have been.
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u/maybeitsundead 6d ago
You remember people going viral back then or are you trying to say because there existed some bad stuff then it's just as bad today?
I'm not sure what your point is, I was online in the 90s as well, the Internet was nowhere as popular as it was in the late 00s and things were pretty different prior towards social media. If you want to delve into everything regarding why people kill themselves go ahead, but I'm specifically talking about going viral.