The desire to become immortal and have a site dedicated to one's name by 'friends' has lead to suicides of seven young people - a recent cult that's making its presence felt on the World Wide Web. The craze seems to be picking up with the death of a teenager last week.
Psychologists warn that the craze could result in many more deaths in the days to come and affect feeble minds across the globe as it drives desire for prestige among friends. The lure to chat online than in person, enables them to glamourise their lives and fabricate details such as their age, income and physical features could also make youngsters take to the trend, psychologists say.
The friends of the seven teenagers who committed suicide have set up memorial sites in their names, where other friends could leave messages, photographs and videos. Investigators say that several more teenagers have attempted to kill themselves over the past 12 months.
Detectives confirmed they are investigating a possible suicide chain and fear the teenagers think it is "cool" to have an Internet memorial site and are killing themselves to achieve kudos among their peer group. "Parents should keep a close watch on what their children are doing on the Internet," police said, adding that the craze is catching up very fast among the youth.
