Hopefully this hits that balance, please tell me what you think.
SECOND DRAFT
TITLE:
Hungry For Criticism
VALIDITY:
Internet, Capitalism, Adult,
DESCRIPTION:
In the months following the anorexia-related death of teenager @@randomfemalename@@, investigators discovered that she was a member of various online communities that glorify eating disorders. Her computer had multiple pictures of seriously underweight people, and her social media was filled with encouragement from others to keep starving herself.
OPTION ONE
"This is entirely the fault of social media," says the teenager's father @@randommalefirstname@@ @@surname(1)@@, who is best known for his work as a fashion photographer. "These sites should be held criminally responsible for irresponsible content, and should be forced to share with the police the personal details and identities of the people in these murder-groups. There's no greater emptiness than the loss of a child, and those who are too blame must be punished."
OUTCOME:
faceless corporations are expected to assume parental responsibility over millions of teenagers
OPTION TWO
"This was a tragic loss, of course, but actually let's not forget that social media is all about connecting people," spins Farcebook representative @@random_name()@@. "The data-gathering algorithms we employ can identify at-risk users, and target advertising... uh I mean... signpost appropriate support networks for those vulnerable individuals. Of course, we offer discounted rates to charitable organisations who use our systems to deliver their message, which we'd happily extend to the government-funded Eating Disorder clinics I expect you'll want to be setting up. You could say that our automated software is automatically saving lives!"
OUTCOME:
online terrorists are automatically assigned online adverts for cheap balaclavas
OPTION THREE - IF RELIGION LEGAL
"It isn't the internet that makes teens want to starve themselves, it's the modern world, making them feel a deep spiritual hunger," points out Reverend @@randomname@@, standing before an altar beneath a statue of an emaciated man in a loincloth. "We should say that once a week, for a few hours at a time, everyone is obliged to turn off all electronic devices and attend church. With minds filled with holy truth rather than horrible tweets, teen self-harm will be a thing of the past."
OUTCOME:
no-one ever lasts longer than a week on a life support machine
