This is sad, tragic, and horrific. My heart goes out to all of the families involved. I hope my comments regarding this situation don’t read as insensitive, but it’s also a fascinating example of our relationship with media.
By now you’ve likely seen the headlines that two twelve year old girls plotted to kill a classmate, stabbing the victim nineteen times. What wasn’t immediately clear was the motive for this heinous act. Today we’ve heard word that the two girls who committed this crime did so as a tribute to Slenderman.
For those unfamiliar, Slenderman is an internet scary story initially created as part of a photo editing contest on the Something Awful forums in 2009. Readers of the forum were impressed by this impossibly tall and thin figure wearing a suit, and plaguing children. Others quickly added to the fictional mythos. The popularity of the figure exploded, and early in the viral phase of sharing, many sites purported to have the “True Story” of this mysterious figure, adding to the reality of the creation. Some sites even went as far as creating historical backstories, linking Slenderman to ancient wood carvings and Dark Age superstitions. Continue reading “When Web “Myths” Become “Real” – Two Girls Stab Classmate Over Slenderman”