Teenage girl takes her own life after Instagram poll results tell her to
May 16, 2019
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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A 16-year-old girl in Malaysia took her own life on Tuesday after conducting an Instagram poll to decide whether she should live or die. Reportedly, 69% of people had voted for “die,” which reportedly prompted the teen to end her life.
According to multiple sources, the girl posted a poll reading: “Really important, help me choose D/L.” Apparently, “D” stood for “death” and “L” for “life”. After 69% of people voted for “D,” the girl allegedly took her own life.
Malaysian police chief Aidil Bolhassan confirmed the girl’s death and the poll results. He added that she had been living with depression, and according to some sources, her family situation wasn’t making it any better. Bolhassan added that she had previously posted a status on Facebook saying: “WANNA QUIT F*CKING LIFE I’M TIRED.”
Police officers are reportedly not treating her death as suspicious, but an autopsy is being conducted on her body. They added that the poll ended with 88% of people voting for “L.” However, they believe that voting changed after the news of her death spread.
It’s been proven that Instagram ruins self-confidence and mental health in teenagers. Back in 2014, there was a case of a boy who attempted suicide because he hated his selfies (that is, his physical appearance). But this time, I don’t think it was Instagram that caused the tragedy.
If the girl had been living with depression, she had most likely already made the decision. The Instagram poll was probably just a final call for help, or perhaps a bizarre way to confirm the decision she had already made. Additionally, the poll didn’t specify what “D” and “L” stood for, so I guess people were just randomly picking answers. But even if she explicitly wrote “live” and “die,” I don’t think people would take it seriously. My guess is that the majority of her followers were also teenagers, and when have teenagers taken anything seriously?
Whatever the case may be, this story is tragic. No one should end their life like this, at such a young age. And the fact that the girl published an Instagram poll “to help her decide” leaves a bitter taste and a feeling of guilt for everyone who, for whatever reason, voted for “D.”
If anyone is struggling and needs someone to speak to, you can contact these helplines 24 hours a day, seven days a week:
UK: Samaritans: 116 123
US: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.
Australia: Lifeline: 13 11 14
Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
[via Unilad]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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16 responses to “Teenage girl takes her own life after Instagram poll results tell her to”
Truly horrific, poor girl… ?
Do you want us to feel sorry for what for somebody who is stupid enough and ignorant enough to listen to stupid assholes on the Internet you deserve what you get!
You mean that suicidal persons deserve to die?
Michael Estwik if ur stupid enough to listen to people on the internet!!! Then yes!
Facebook must take some responsibility for this. They censor nipples in images so God only knows why they can’t censor these feeds. In what world would anyone encourage another person to do this!!
Gayle Bevan how were they supposed to know what the letters stood for?
Eve Rogers you’re right.
Eve Rogers when you said ‘they’ do you mean fb algo or the followers?
This story is from my hometown.
FB take responsibility because people on the internet voted “D”?
I didn’t know what “D/L” meant, how could FB write an algorithm to know? Or should FB have people reading everyone’s posts, including private posts?
The people that saw the post and didn’t report it to FB or local authorities are responsible for their lack of action.
LOL sure. Facebook. This isn’t Facebook’s fault. This is the society we live in and this isn’t any different the abortion. The world we live in has absolutely no regard for human life. People are devoid of feelings for human life. Had this been a gorilla or a giraffe, the social justice warriors would be out in force. It’s a human, the same thing we rip apart in the mother’s womb. This isn’t Facebook. Facebook is just a reflection of us.
Truely tragic, only those who have been this low will know how easily the balance can be tipped, so very, very heartbreaking.
It is weird thinking how serious the new generation is taking all of the virtual tools we have like Instagram, Facebook and all of that s… out there. Instead of interacting and trying to get help in real life that girl is dead because of a instagram poll… that is really fucked up.
Has this been verified as real/true?
The article says “Malaysian police chief Aidil Bolhassan confirmed the girl’s death and the poll results. He added that she had been living with depression, and according to some sources, her family situation wasn’t making it any better.”
When a person has a dog’s life, you can’t blame Instagram.
Gotta get off social media. It’s cancer of the mind.