Before Death, Man In Vietnam Posts Suicide Note On Facebook

As Facebook has increased its reach in Vietnam, the types of uses for the social network has diversified – and, sadly, sometimes it’s tragic.

On Wednesday, Vietnamese citizens spotted a pair of sandals and a cellphone beside a lake in Dong Ha city, Quang Tri province, out in the countryside. From the cellphone, Vietnamese police identified Vo Dinh Toan, a student at a local community college. This morning the police found his body at the bottom of the lake. Before jumping in, his friends reported that Toan had posted on Facebook, “There are many things I could not achieve.”

Earlier this month, a middle school girl from Ha Tinh province also posted to Facebook before she took her own life. She posted her update just before jumping from a bridge, telling her friends that “if death can solve all problems and lighten the burden on my mother then that is what I will choose.”

Worldwide, this is not new. There have been cases of people posting suicide notes on Facebook in the past. As Facebook has grown in Vietnam, it has become the main way for people to publicly update their friends and family en masse. Unfortunately, this also extends to tragic cases as these.

There is not much information on suicide rates in Vietnam, as doing sociological research in the country is difficult, but some academics have estimated that about 48.7 percent of suicides are among people aged 15 to 24 – which is also a prime demographic for online social media.

These heartbreaking incidents are a reminder to us to get closer to our loved ones, treasure the time we have with them, and maybe take our interactions on Facebook a little more seriously.