Twitter is changing the celebrity world as we know it, my friends.
That probably sounds pretty dramatic, haha, but really – in what other reality would Matt Lewis tell me, a lowly blogger, about his involvement with Action for Children, Emma Watson ask me to explain Babel Fish, and Taylor Laurent actually follow me back? (Sure, he follows everyone back, but whatever.)
Oh, and let’s not forget: Twitter might have actually allowed Demi Moore to save a life.
Yep, that’s right – and if you’ve watched the news or spent any amount of time online since Friday, you’ve probably already heard. According to ABC News, one of Moore’s followers (by the name of “Sandieguy”) on Twitter told Moore via an “@ reply”:
“Getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the whole arm so it doesn’t waste time.”
And then followed up with:
“gbye … gonna kill myself now.”
I have no idea how Moore, who has over 400,000 followers, managed to catch that message, but her response (a simple “hope you are joking”) might have prompted a slew of other Twitter users to track down the original message and contact local authorities who got the suicidal Twitter user to safety. According to Jermaine Thomas, the San Jose Police Department Public Information Officer, the department received several calls about “Sandieguy” and they were able to locate the user and get him (or her?) to safety.
Moore’s husband, Ashton Kutcher, later attempted to soothe nerves when he posted:
“wifey reported a suicide attempt based on a at reply tweet she got and saved someones life. the woman is in the hospital now.”
(Twitter is also killing proper grammar as we know it.)
To be honest, I sat on this for a while, unsure of how to respond. Honestly, I was a little unsure of how exactly I felt about it.
Did Demi Moore help save a life? Possibly, yes. Given the number of followers Moore has and how people on Twitter love to check out the conversations of those they follow (celebs or not), it very well could have been Moore’s response to “Sandieguy” that alerted others to the problem and prompted them to call the police (thank goodness for good ol’ fashioned nosiness, yes?).
But I’m not as impressed that Moore could have “saved a life,” as some sites put it, as I’m impressed with the fact that Moore didn’t ignore the message. She has over 400,000 followers (to put that in perspective for you, I have something like 300 and struggle to keep up), and let’s face it: Suicide is a sticky, uncomfortable, and terrifying topic at best – and that’s just when you’re talking about it with people you know. Moore, who was messaged by a complete stranger, could have easily just ignored it and hoped for the best. She also could have ignored it hoping it was an empty threat or a grasp at attention from a star.
According to E! Online, however, Moore admitted that while she was “torn” about whether or not respond, she was also too “uncomfortable” ignoring it.
That is fantastic, and I applaud Moore for what she did. It will hopefully prompt others to react the same way, should they ever find themselves in similar situations – on or off the Web.
However, for all my admiration, I’m also a little sad that it takes one celeb’s good deed to cause so much of a stir in the media. Like my friend Dr. John M. Grohol pointed out Friday, there are numerous organizations both on and off the Web that work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, to do what Moore did last week. (And his point about how ABC filed the story under “entertainment” is spot on – highly recommend checking it out).
Finally, after mulling it over for a while, I’ve decided the bottom line is that there are two lessons to learn from this:
So, what do you think? Moore did a good thing, but was it worthy of getting more media attention than what suicide prevention programs get? Do you think Moore’s actions, and the news reports that followed, will help bring more awareness to suicide awareness and prevention, or backfire and send a ream of suicide threats heading in every celebrity’s direction?
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Unsuicidal Thoughts | World of Psychology (September 10, 2009)
Another great post! I actually hadn’t followed this story much other than seeing a couple headlines, so I appreciate you explaining it. Like you said, celebrities have powerful social influence, so I say let’s use it for good. In this case, Demi Moore expressed to the individual that she hoped this was a joke, that it would be meaningful to her that an attempt not happen. That’s a big deal, as folks who are considering attempting almost universally have a (mistaken) belief that nobody would care if they were gone (Joiner, 2005).
It’s actually fortuitous that this happened amidst your series of articles about what to do if somebody you know seems like they might be struggling with mental illness. People can not necessarily “save a life,” but they can decrease risk and do whatever possible to ensure that folks get the help that they need. My hope is that, with all the coverage, the right information is being mentioned.
1-800-273-TALK
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy
There are so many useful resources out there for folks who are suffering. It’s great when celebrities contribute to the cause and even better when writers cover it like you did here. I with the media would cover things differently, but it is going to take more marketing from folks in the field before that happens, so for now, this is great.
Like you, I wasn’t sure of my reaction. But I do commend Moore for “doing the right thing” and responding to the tweet instead of just letting it slide by. The attention she called to it was likely a positive thing overall, especially since it seemed to result in saving the person’s life.
Amazing how technology brings us together in ways I’m not sure anyone envisioned even 5 years ago…
To your 2 things to learn, and then to the second one. . .
It’s better to lose a friendship then to lose a friend.
(meaning better to let them be mad at you then to physically lose the person for ever)
@ Mike – Thanks! And you know, you’re right – it is going to take more from professionals and advocates to get the media to cover things differently. There’ve been some news and entertainment shows that’ve done great jobs, but then you have stories like this that get filed under “entertainment,” “celebrity,” and even “technology” (I suppose “technology” is better than the other two, ha). Ah, well – keep pushing forward L(
@ John – Technology blows my mind on a daily basis. Shoot, TWITTER blows my mind on a daily basis, lol – just last night I watched @snoopdog freestyle live and chat with people on ustream – that never would have happened a few years ago, haha. You know, something I was thinking about as I read your post and then was writing mine: Really, we don’t even know that it was Moore’s reply that made people notice the user’s suicidal tweet and start calling the police. It very well could have been, but we don’t know for sure. However, BECAUSE the user directed the message to Moore, well, that makes good headlines. I’m glad Moore didn’t ignore it, but the real heroes in this story are the people who actually took action and called the police. I should have said something about that.
@ kt – EXCELLENT point.
Sigh…I’m on Twitter, but I never do anything with it. Maybe I should. I also write a celebrity blog, so it might help if I followed a few celebrities. I’m glad the person didn’t die, though.
Wow! Thanks for the great post
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