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MySpace takes another controversial turn

Contributed by: Stephanie Seifried on 6/2/2006

On May 13, two 16-year old-boys died in a horrific car accident.

Pomona High School sophomores Alex Livesay and Chayce Miller were both in the car with Gregory Ullrich, 24, when he ran into a pole, killing both boys instantly.

An investigation was held and Ullrich had a blood alcohol level of .18 and was driving 12 to 20 mph over the speed limit.

Grief counselors were at Pomona after the crash to help students cope, but what helped them the most was how the school banded together, as a family, to mourn and cope with the death of their classmates.

The students created 15-foot posters signed by all of Livesay's and Miller's friends and teachers. They set up fundraisers at the school in order to help the boys' families, and they attended both Livesay's and Miller's viewings and funerals as one linked together by tragedy.

Unlike some of the more traditional ways to mourn, some students turned to MySpace, a popular and controversial Web site among teens.

Both Livesay and Miller had MySpace accounts or "profiles" and actively participated in the myspace way of communication. Members of the Web site are able to create personalized profiles with pictures, send messages to other members and send comments to a list of approved friends. While the messages can only be viewed by the receiver, comments are displayed on the members profile.

When Livesay and Miller's unexpected deaths occurred and they were ripped away from life on this Earth, their friends, family, belongings and MySpace profiles were all that was physically left to exist.

As news of their death spread, friends of the boys began leaving comments on their MySpace profiles, and they read as if they still could and were talking directly to the boys.

The first few days after the crash the comments shared thoughts of disbelief and shock. Friends of Livesay and Miller posted pieces of newspaper articles written about their death and pictures of the accident scene covered with flowers. But as the days have turned into weeks, comments are still being left by most of the same people.

The most recent comment on Livesay's profile, dated May 29, shared a memory that Livesay had with one of his friends. The comment is written as if Livesay was to read it and respond. The writer also expresses how much they can't wait until they get to see Livesay again.

While this is a newly established, public way to deal with death, how long can it go on until it is viewed as unhealthy?

The people who are posting the comments may just be following a natural path of healing, or they may be continuing to struggle on how to cope with the death of their friends without talking to any living persons.

The controversy is that these kids may be growing dependent on the gratification of thinking that they are still communicating with Livesay and Miller through MySpace. But on the other side, MySpace could be just what they need, for the time being, to make it through their loss.

While death affects all human beings, the natural path to take is to move on. MySpace may or may not be altering that path, and it may be doing so without the knowledge of the teen's parents. If nothing is evaluated, myspace could be contributing to the prolonging of the healing process.


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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
Submitted By: Seth Davis
posted on 5/31/2006 @ 2:27:45 PM
Rated Story
You bring up an interesting point about how people are dealing with the tragedy. I'm curious about how other people are coping, and to hear some more opinions on whether using MySpace to grieve is healthy or not.
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Submitted By: John Zwick
posted on 5/31/2006 @ 12:39:33 PM
Rated Story
Good article. Frankly, though, I'm for anything that gets people to explore some of their more difficult emotions through writing. You learn a lot about yourself and grow that way.
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Submitted By: Sarah Call
posted on 5/31/2006 @ 1:08:54 AM
Rated Story
I belive that people have diffrent ways to heal and after reading this peice, it makes me ponder if the interent has made it impossible to let people come to terms to what happened
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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Stephanie Seifried

Westminster , CO

Stephanie Seifried has posted 3 stories and 0 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Stephanie Seifried's average story rating is 5.
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