Death is scary. Suicide is scary. And when you’re a valued member of a long-standing community who supports and helps one another, you don’t fake awful stories about either to sadden and embarrass your friends. You don’t ruin years of relationships to pull a stupid gag that demeans true tragedies. You don’t make all of those people who love and care about you think you killed yourself for the lulz.
Sometimes a story or idea goes viral because it’s too big to be ignored. But more often it’s because a single human being passes it along to an audience that’s either massive, highly influential, or both. There aren’t too many people who can do that.
