SNS saves lives

A man planning to commit suicide decided not to die thanks to Twitter.

On April 16, a man wrote that he was leaving a will on Twitter because he didn’t have paper. The message was directed to his parents and friends, as well as his brother serving in the military.

Twitter users, shocked by the message, started retweeting the message along with a note saying that the man should be stopped from committing suicide.

Their words were put into action. A user with an ID: @peacepeace**** said, “I called the cyber police and will contact the military.” Another user, ID: @AndroidG***, said “I contacted the person’s brother’s military unit, but they told me it was difficult searching because it was too dark.”

After midnight, numerous tweets were posted saying that the person who attempted suicide was safe.

@KoW*****, who uploaded his will and created a mass stir online, wrote a thank you tweet later that night. “I give my utmost thanks to the military, police, fire department, and all the Twitter users. I will continue on. I will remember that there is a time for everyone to bloom and when that day comes, I will be happy than anyone else,” he said.

There was a similar incident last February when a 28 year-old uploaded a will on Twitter and Cyworld, his personal blog, saying that he was attempting suicide. However, with Twitter users’ words of encouragement and police taking quick action, a tragedy was prevented. 


By Yun Suh-young (syun@heraldcorp.com)
Intern Reporter
Edited by Rob York