What is Twitch?
"It's essentially the YouTube for live gaming: people broadcast themselves playing and/or talking about games while other people watch them (either live or via archived footage) while chatting about it."
(Stuart Dredge, 19 May 2014, Guardian Unlimited)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Webcam viewers taunt teenager as he commits suicide
"A teenager committed suicide in front of a live webcam as 1,500 people watching online egged him on. Abraham Biggs, 19, told users on a bodybuilding forum he would be committing suicide that night and invited them to watch the live video. Forum moderators allegedly ignored the post – assuming it was a prank – while other users posted insults and even encouraged him. The teen used the 'lifecasting' website Justin.tv – designed to let users share the minutiae of their everyday lives – to stream footage from his bedroom.
Biggs, from Florida, was seen taking pills before lying on the bed with his back to the camera. Users claim they only realised it was serious a few hours later when they saw he wasn't breathing. Moderators then traced Biggs's location and informed authorities. The webcam was still streaming live footage of the teen's body as police entered the room yesterday. ...
His death echoes that of British man Kevin Whitrick, from Shropshire, who also killed himself in front of a webcam while at least 100 other people watched. ... The deaths have sparked a wave of concern following 17 internet–related suicides within the UK since 2001."
(Debra Killalea, 21st November 2008)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
