[size=18px]Internet site focuses on Myspace users' deaths[/size]
By MELISSA SÁNCHEZ, Star-Telegram (Texas)
A new twist on the popular Web site Myspace.com is a virtual cemetery that chronicles everything from murders and suicides to "car-surfing" accidents.
In the six months since it was created, Mydeathspace .com has detailed the deaths of Myspace members, from regular teens to beauty queens, by posting news reports and family e-mails. It also gives a link to the members' Myspace.com page.
Though some visitors to Mydeathspace have called it morbid and sick, others visit it regularly.
The site "is more eye-opening than it is therapeutic," said Michael Patterson, the 24-year-old paralegal who created it.
"I'm hoping that teens will think about something they've seen on the Web site next time they're put in a situation where there's a chance they could hurt themselves," he said.
He created the site after reading a news report last year about a father who killed his family and himself because of mounting debt. Patterson typed the two daughters' names into Myspace and found their profiles. He figured others would be curious, too.
Since December, Mydeathspace, which is not affiliated with Myspace, has posted details about 331 deaths, including 50 suicides, Patterson said. Links to the profiles of 15 suspected killers appear next to links to the profiles of the victims.
On its biggest day so far, the site recorded 250,000 hits. More than 250 people have registered their e-mail addresses on the site and use the discussion boards to talk about death.
Todd McGee, head of the Dallas site GroupieTunes .com, says Mydeathspace is an attempt to capitalize on the Myspace phenomenon.
"I think Myspace has a limited value and gotten too big and less focused," he said. "It will probably be segmented off into niche markets. I think it [Mydeathspace] is the beginning of that new way of thinking."
Almost every death is submitted to Patterson by the deceased's family or friends. He said that he will remove a name at a relative's request and that he tries to confirm the deaths through news reports and obituaries because he has received "a ton" of fakes.
Many of the people profiled are suicides, accident victims and U.S. soldiers in Iraq. But there are also unusual deaths:
Two Florida college students died after climbing into an 8-foot helium-filled balloon and accidentally suffocating.
A New Jersey girl, drinking alcohol on a cliff's edge, fell off as she reached for a cellphone she had dropped.
And an Illinois teen died after playing the "choking game" -- he accidentally hanged himself from a support beam in his basement while trying to temporarily cut off the oxygen supply to his brain to achieve a high.
Links to information about the deceased are labeled by name, and cause and date of death, such as: Tara Rose McAvoy 'Miss Deaf Texas', 18 - Train - RIP Mar 13, 2006.
A mouse click away is a page with McAvoy's picture and a news report of how she was hit by a train while walking along the railroad tracks in Austin as she text-messaged her parents on her cellphone. About 50 comments, ranging from crass to sympathetic, fill a long-scrolling space below.
A click on McAvoy's picture sends visitors to her Myspace page. In the background is a silver silhouette of a woman's face. Her profile reveals a family-loving Texas girl. The last time she logged in was the day before she died.
Within about three hours of her death, the first message in remembrance had been posted on her Myspace page. Dozens of people have left messages in the three months since.
"We love you," the first message says. "You will never be forgotten."
Allowing users to post messages celebrating the deceased's life provides an outlet for them to connect and comfort one another during the grieving process, Myspace.com President Tom Anderson said in a statement.
Susan Weeks, a nursing professor at Texas Christian University who specializes in mental health and disaster work, said Mydeathspace could help mourners overcome grief and give them a sense that they are not alone.
But the site could upset relatives and friends of the deceased, because some of the messages posted are flippant or sarcastic.
Patterson said he tries to discourage that by publishing the e-mail addresses of those who write such messages, though people do it anyway.
Weeks also is concerned that some mourners seclude themselves with a computer rather than seek counseling. She suggested that Mydeathspace have links to crisis intervention, suicide prevention and counseling information.
Patterson didn't rule out the possibility of adding the links and said he and his staff are working on some "exciting new features."
He also said the site was able to help a Florida teen who was threatening suicide in April. She e-mailed Patterson to reserve a spot on the site, and he called police, who intervened.
Barbara Williams, 19, of Los Angeles, is a registered user and frequents the site throughout her workday, she said in an e-mail.
It taught her "how easy and possible it is to die, as stupid as it sounds," she said. "Maybe in my arrogance of being a teenager, it wasn't so real to me that it could happen any time soon."
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