I have looked at Snopes and Wikipedia, for what it’s worth, and they were only slightly helpful.
Maybe this is old news, but the “Blue Whale” game is just now generating panic among local Moms. What I can’t seem to find out is…
Is this game real?
If so, who’s running it? Or has it taken on a life of its own?
What are the “challenges”? The last one is supposed to be suicide, but what precedes that? Dangerous stunts? Silly stuff?
Are there any documented cases of suicides in the USA brought about by this game? Even in Russia, it’s not altogether clear how big or how deadly the game is?
Just trying to figure out if something real and dangerous is happening, or if this is just the latest “don’t flash your car lights or gangs will kill you” Internet legend.
The story is getting a lot of attention here in Texas because Isaiah Gonzalez, a kid in San Antonio reportedly killed himself a few days ago playing this game. (CNN has the story.)
Wikipedia has a pretty thorough overview of the alleged game and incidents around the world supposedly related to it. It does sound very urban legendy, but it does seem to be a real thing that actually exists or existed.
Well he did give the kid’s name, which apparently allows you, in this modern age, to copy and paste that name into a technical device known as a “search engine.”
I tried it, just to see if this magical technology works, and lo and behold, i found this.
To be honest, the story provides basically no evidence except his parents’ claims that he was involved in any such game. The broader stuff about the game also provides very little evidence that it has actually been responsible for an suicides. As pulykamell notes, the game itself does appear to exist, but my suspicion is that it has become a sort of convenient target for the problem of teen and youth suicide. As the WaPo article notes, “Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 15 to 24.”
Chromos asked, ‘For those of us who have never heard of it, can you provide any more detail?’ To me, this is asking what the ‘game’ is. I posted what the game is. Where’s the problem?
That’s pretty much what my feelings on it are. But it wouldn’t surprise me if a suicide or handful becomes definitively linked to it. After all, we had that Slenderman crap a while ago. Still, let’s keep the fears realistic and in proportion.
I see that this story is part of multi-part sensationalistic “expose” designed to scare viewers and increase ratings. Note their list of warning signs:
*Are they spending more time online or on devices?
*Look for signs of isolation.
*Look for any loss of interest.
*Look for changes in behavior or personality.
Wow! Apparently 90% of teens nowadays are playing this game!
It used to be that plain old Russian roulette was good enough for anybody, but nowadays Russian teens seem willing to follow any sort of fad, like drinking beer instead of vodka.
Also, even if we do manage to definitively link a few suicides to the game, the next question should be: Did the game cause the suicide, or did an already-suicidal person seek out the game, maybe due to its increasing notoriety?
I think Czarcasm nailed it. When I looked up what tasks are involved in the Blue Whale game, they are mostly vague, involving cutting or hurting yourself, watching scary videos or listening to music provided by the game administrator, getting used to the idea of killing yourself (presumably from a fall) by going up the roof of a structure, hanging your feet off, etc. and then killing yourself at the end.
It sounds totally made up for the purpose of scaring parents that their kids are up to no good. While teen suicide is definitely a problem, I think the real threat is bullying, young love gone awry, issues with sexual orientation/acceptance, abuse/sexual assault, and things of that nature. My bullshit detector tells me that there would be nothing appealing to a kid about a game where a random person gives you tasks to do ending with suicide. If that was the end goal of the game, no kid would participate. There has to be a hook where you at least have some chance of survival at the end so you can be part of some “exclusive club” or get some other reward at the end. Even ISIS convinces their suicide bombers there are good times waiting for them in the afterlife and glorifies past bombers as heroes to motivate new ones. What’s the appeal of this game supposed to be?
No shit. For the kid in Texas, they apparently want you to buy a story that “100% normal kid (honor student, bright future!) suddenly starts following the instructions of anonymous internet person to the point of committing suicide”.