My Friend Posted a Violent Manifesto on Facebook
Watching mental breakdowns in the age of social media
Not-quite-forgotten acquaintances sprinkle our Facebook feeds like nostalgic speedbumps. There are the usual surprises that slow our browsing — marriages, dogs, jobs — but every now and then, someone makes us stop.
Danny* made me stop.
I never would have expected it — Danny was normal, like an indistinct side character in an Archie comic brought to life. A talented baseball player, he had big ears and always looked like he needed to shave, even when he didn’t. During puberty, he purposefully made his voice lower and never stopped; even as a fully grown man, he spoke half an octave lower than he should have.
We went to high school together. He got a baseball scholarship somewhere. I signed his yearbook and presumed I’d never think about him again.
Then, after eight years, I thought of Danny.
He posted a Facebook status, feeling “blessed”:
… I have slayed the final 7 headed dragon. It is officially over. ALL humans will now go to heaven. That [sic] gates to heaven have officially been sealed shut. We have won the war against evil. This war has been against our own people. It has been genocide on our own people… The last…
