# What Is The "Blue Whale" Game? Is It Even Real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494 "2017-07-17T15:14:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/21 "2017-07-17T16:36:24Z")
Honestly sounds like something created by 4chan, with people only pretending to do the tasks. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/22 "2017-07-17T17:42:08Z")
When I was a kid, Dungeons & Dragons, heavy metal music, Wicca, and Satanism were all blamed for teen suicides. Kids who committed suicide without a convenient scapegoat were ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/23 "2017-07-17T17:55:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wasn’t this the plot of some movie recently? I remember something about “In a world where there are Watchers and Players…” in the trailer. [Nerve](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX1BTiHzq-I). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/24 "2017-07-17T18:10:08Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > 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”. Sounds a lot more typical of the pattern of a gay kid in a homophobic environment who commits suicide. Parents would much rather blame it on some scary internet ‘game’ than look at other reasons. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/25 "2017-07-17T18:37:45Z")
Tangentially related, the old WW Russian revolver had a interesting feature- if you put one round in it, then spun the cylinder , it would never come up as the next round to fire. Thus, barring a defective revolver, the Cossacks could impress Western journalists with their daring suicide game with little danger. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/26 "2017-07-17T18:44:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Tangentially related, the old WW Russian revolver had a interesting feature- if you put one round in it, then spun the cylinder , it would never come up as the next round to fire. Thus, barring a defective revolver, the Cossacks could impress Western journalists with their daring suicide game with little danger. That’s interesting. Where did you find this out? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/27 "2017-07-17T18:48:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Tangentially related, the old WW Russian revolver had a interesting feature- if you put one round in it, then spun the cylinder , it would never come up as the next round to fire. Thus, barring a defective revolver, the Cossacks could impress Western journalists with their daring suicide game with little danger. I’d be interested in seeing some evidence for this. Sounds a bit too much like an urban legend. I’m not saying it would be impossible to make such a gun, but it would take a non-negligible effort on the part of the manufacturer. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/28 "2017-07-17T18:49:03Z")
What does any of this have to do with blue whales? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/29 "2017-07-17T18:50:31Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > 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](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/07/11/texas-family-says-teen-killed-himself-in-macabre-blue-whale-online-challenge-thats-alarming-schools/). I suspect the name wasn’t there when czarcasm quoted it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/30 "2017-07-17T19:00:42Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I suspect the name wasn’t there when czarcasm quoted it. Exactly. As can be seen in my original quote, he said “The story is getting a lot of attention here in Texas because a kid in San Antonio reportedly killed himself a few days ago playing this game.” ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/31 "2017-07-17T19:03:51Z")
Here is your standard Russian revolver: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagant\_M1895](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagant_M1895) It doesn’t have the feature of never firing if spun with one cartridge, but it does hold seven shots rather than six, so if you only load one cartridge your odds are slightly improved… BTW, it is apparently a myth in itself that Russian officers used to play Russian roulette. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/32 "2017-07-17T19:09:48Z")
Having heard of it from a coworker, I looked around, and couldn’t find any evidence that it wasn’t an urban legend or an hoax. That’s my position so far. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/33 "2017-07-17T19:36:59Z")
I saw the recent reports also and looked into it. The game/list itself is not the cause, of course, but in addition to the many ways young or old people view or create anything with social “legs,” so to speak, it can be a symptom of pathology. The “challenge” of psychological any sport is always predicated on some shared agreement to the validity of the experience–whatever free divers, bungee jumpers, extreme sports, to tiddlywinks pros agree upon. “Agreeing upon” wishing a group of like-minded individuals is re-inforcing and encouraging, the like minded of stupid kids trying to be in brave competition (or any other nonce “YouTube challenge,” for example) here overlaps with the like-minded of psychologically pathological young people, who derive strength in shared experience just like everyone else. The _phenomenon_ of the list is unfortunate, and is different from other events–the rash of suicides of young lovers leaving behind a copy of Goethe’s _Werther_, for example–now that an instant “bonding” (as some social media users honestly see it) over social media is a thing. Unlike _our_ counterexample of “If Tommy told you he jumped/jumped off the bridge, why would you,” mood disordered people prefer to see, but never could could so easily and with such numbers, other people with whom they can for once feel “normal”; in the past, they would rarely come across any IRL or in 2nd-hand reports, and then only as a case of abnormality. ETA: I was unaware until I just checked the dates on Goethe’s _Sorrows of Young Werther_, published in 1744, that the term “Werther effect” is out there, now generally referred to as “[copycat suicide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copycat_suicide).” [cite to Wiki] ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/34 "2017-07-17T20:21:15Z")
Hoping to put an end to the Russian Roulette hijack, [The master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1353/did-the-russians-ever-play-russian-roulette) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/35 "2017-07-17T20:30:37Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Hoping to put an end to the Russian Roulette hijack, > > [The master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1353/did-the-russians-ever-play-russian-roulette) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-331.html](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-331.html) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/36 "2017-07-17T21:03:31Z")
The Blue Whale Game shows all the signs of being a [moral panic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_panic) along the lines of: [ul] [li]Dungeons and Dragons being linked to Satan worship[/li][li]Satan worshippers sacrificing pets or people, raping children in rituals[/li][li]Creepy clowns hiding in the woods[/li][li][Blood libel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel) about Jews which started in Ancient Greece and continues to even modern day [/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/37 "2017-07-17T21:12:43Z")
> **['Blue Whale' game: 'Fake news' about teens spread internationally -...](https://www.netfamilynews.org/blue-whale-game-fake-news-teens-spread-internationally)** > > \[Thank you to all commenters on this post! I’ve just posted an update (5/17/17) that I hope you’ll read before commenting further here.\] It has been reported as real news here in the U.S. in recent weeks, just as it was earlier in eastern Europe, and... \* Blue Whale’ game: ‘Fake news’ about teens spread internationally by Anne on March 13, 2017 [Thank you to all commenters on this post! I’ve just posted an update (5/17/17) that I hope you’ll read before commenting further here.] It has been reported as real news here in the U.S. in recent weeks, just as it was earlier in eastern Europe, and what a dark, disrespectful message it sends about young people in any country. I’m talking about coverage of the so-called “Blue Whale suicide game” that started in Russia. And while even the term “fake news” seems to be morphing into something else now, this is the real, original version that’s misleading and scaring parents. It’s truly fake – a textbook example of how misinformation about online harm can itself be harmful.\* \*\*Fake News. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/38 "2017-07-17T22:08:54Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > What does any of this have to do with blue whales? Well, you see, blue whales live in the ocean. Earth has oceans. Therefore: teen suicide and internet is evil. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/39 "2017-07-17T22:16:49Z")
Unless someone already wants to commit suicide, whey would one play such a ridiculous game to begin with? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494/40 "2017-07-17T22:21:27Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > What does any of this have to do with blue whales? Blue whales sometimes beach themselves. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-blue-whale-game-is-it-even-real/791494.md?page=3)