Now that you’re looking at divorce, do you regret tweeting about all those expensive watches you bought last year? What about those party pictures that seemed so fun and innocent? Are they looking a little “creepy” now that you’ve become a Circuit Court Judge?
My Virtual Me is all over the internet, there for everyone to see. Employers, attorneys, insurance companies have all realized the wealth of information floating around on places like Twitter, Facebook, and My Space. Checking the Internet before hiring or insuring has become standard practice.
I’m betting we’ve all had at least a little worry about what’s floating around out there. Is it possible that at some point you signed up for an account somewhere and forgot? Was there a time when you weren’t as security savvy as you are now? Could you have left some information showing that you wouldn’t show now?
Well, just kill yourself off with the VirtualVorkian’s killing machine. Just one click and you’re gone! As you would expect, the virtual world has come up with a no muss no fuss way of killing your virtual self. Several sites have sprung up to assist you with your virtual suicide project. Instead of spending days searching and jumping through virtual hoops to remove every trace of your past clicks, just sign up for help and use various virtual killing machines.
It sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? But think about this for a minute. You’re going to give yet another virtual entity your log in information, passwords, sometimes even pictures in order to hunt down and kill your virtual self. Even if the intentions of the suicide assistant are honorable, they are yet another place that has your information. It is another time that your information has traveled through lines, wires, or air to be grabbed like a fat salmon swimming upstream.
You can bet that the virtual home of your virtual self isn’t happy either. Facebook and the others are making real money with your virtual existence. They don’t want you to go away. Just like Jack Kevorkian in real life, virtual suicide assistants are being confronted with legal actions.
Seppukoo is one of the sites offering assisted virtual suicide. The name and theme are based on the ritual suicide practiced by ancient samurai warriors. An Interesting and well done package but is it only creating what it purports to be removing? Is it becoming just another social networking site? They are providing a “Wall” for posting pictures of recent suicide victims. It is becoming “the in thing to do”. You may want to take a look at the site and also note the information announcement describing some of their recent legal hurdles.
What’s your opinion on virtual suicide? I’m thinking I’d rather spend a little time and take my own virtual life. After all it was me that invented me, it should be me that does the deed. In fact, the more I think about this, the creepier it gets. Maybe I’ll just leave me self alone.
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Interesting Links:
Seppukoo Website
Web2.0 Suicide Machine Website
NETWORKWORLD Facebook blocks Web 2.0
