Ronnie Mcnutt was an American Army Veteran who posted and livestreamed his suicide on Facebook, garnering widespread discussion with some viewers commenting disturbingly and others sending hateful messages in response. The video has gone viral and been discussed widely – in particular its effects have been felt strongly across many generations of society.
Josh Steen, one of McNutt’s friends, is very concerned about the way that McNutt’s video has been treated on social media and believes that Facebook should take steps to prevent people from sharing such distressful material.
Facebook Live Streaming
Facebook Live allows users to broadcast video directly from their phone directly to viewers, creating an immediate sense of engagement with viewers and fostering stronger bonds with them. Businesses can utilize live streams as a powerful way to showcase their culture and values to build stronger bonds with their target audiences.
Social media sites struggle with content moderation due to the massive volume of uploaded material every minute. Many platforms utilize automated software for this task, which may miss important context and nuance; as a best practice it would be wiser not to rely on automatic tools to moderate your stream.
Planning a Facebook Live stream requires careful preparation. In advance, plan the event and inform followers through email or social media that the date and time have been scheduled; additionally, use Stories as a promotional platform to reach more viewers.
Suicide
Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death in this country. Suicide is a devastating mental illness that can affect anyone of any age and may have multiple causes – often depression-related but may also result from bipolar disorder or substance use.
Since Ronnie Mcnutt’s tragic livestream of his suicide became widely shared online, various social media platforms have attempted to remove it; however, TikTok users have continued uploading and editing it as it resurfaces there.
Parents have been cautioned to restrict their children from using video-sharing applications like Snapchat. Some schools even sent letters home with children warning parents not to let their children access these applications. Suicide prevention experts warn about viewing this kind of content online and suggest seeking professional treatment if symptoms of depression such as feeling sad or hopeless persist for weeks at a time or hearing voices don’t go away.
PTSD
After experiencing a traumatic event, it’s natural to experience anxiety and worry; however, if these emotions don’t go away after one month or more they could be symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD symptoms can cause significant problems with work, school, relationships and daily living if left untreated; therefore if you suspect you have it it’s important to talk to your physician immediately.
McNutt was 33-years old at the time and served in the US Army. Living in New Albany, Mississippi where he worked at Toyota as an autoworker; additionally attending church regularly and co-hosting podcasts were among his interests. He tragically ended his own life.
Help and support are essential when managing stress and developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Spend time with friends and family who will listen as well as avoid unhealthy coping mechanisms such as alcohol or drug misuse; seek medical treatment if you use unhealthy coping mechanisms; PTSD treatment can help alleviate your symptoms while increasing quality of life.
Social Media
A 33-year-old veteran was suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder and struggling with his mental health, recently losing his job and having parted ways with his partner. On August 31st in Mississippi he decided to end his own life and took the drastic step of taking his own life by hanging himself.
Since Ronnie McNutt’s death, video footage of his suicide has been widely disseminated online and shared via social media platforms like YouTube. Since McNutt’s family are being victimized online by trolls falsely accusing it of being faked, Mr Steen has launched the #ReformForRonnie campaign, asking social media companies to quickly respond and stop disseminating such disturbing material.
TikTok has come under scrutiny for repeatedly showing the clip, which was also shared to Facebook and Instagram, and even recommended on TikTok’s “For You” discovery page where children as young as 14 may access it. Mr Steen is demanding that TikTok remove this video immediately to address its abuse; he finds it incomprehensible that using two seconds of copyrighted song can prompt flagging but cannot prevent my friend from taking his life.
