The “Death Group” and “The Columbine Community” in Online Culture and Real Society

Abstract

The conditions of modern online culture cause shifts in the most important spheres of human life, that cause both positive and negative, risk-providing effects. The significant part in forming the outlook and socialization of modern youth is taken by virtual communities, whose role is ambiguous. The virtualization of the communication and lifestyle creates a complex of life-threatening and human security problems, including existential ones, connected with disillusionment and escapism. The object of the study are “death groups” (such as “Blue whale”, “Wake me up at 4.20” and others), which have become popular in social networks in recent years, calling on young people to commit suicide, as well as the so-called Columbine community associated with acts of aggression and murder in educational institutions. The research is relevant due to the series of terroristic acts in schools, occurring during 2018, that had similar mechanisms and appearances. These events, as well as previous, connected with several teenager suicides, caused the wide resonance and were followed by altering the federal laws, connected with media resources.