September - October
Web Design
Motion
Infographic
Sketch
Principle
There have been approximately 6% of teenagers that have reported that they have participated in such behaviour, which mimiced the percentage of teenagers that have reported participating in physical self-harm.
In order to approach this sensative topic on a visual and interactive level, I pushed the role of the user as a bystander, with interactions being limited to scrolling.
The flow of information starts off with getting the users to empathize and realize the severity of digital self-harm, with the "Hannah Smith" case study. Additional definition is provided with statistics of who are being the most affected. With again personal anecdotes to humanize the subject, the information becomes less than just data.
The last two sections look at the broader aspect of the internet's increasing affects on mental health. There are global studies that show correlation between higher internet use and suicidal ideation, and the last section focuses on how the mechanics of search engines and online content perpetuates toxic behaviours.
The visuals of the site is also limited in it's use of imagery to not invoke or influence such behaviour. Instead there is an emphasis of strong type and colour. Using a warm off-black with pure rgb blue, the colour almost emanates an omnious glow. There is also an emphasis of motion to push the narrative of an evergrowing epademic that one cannot control.
The first case of Digital Self-Harm that had gained attention towards the issue.
Addressing both definitions and distinctions from these terms.
The amount of people affected by Digital Self-Harm, and the rate of repetition.
Understanding the reasons through personal anecdotes.
Global statistics examining at the correaltion of high internet usage and suicidal ideation.
The issue of similar content being reccomended, influencing, and normalizing the behaviour.
