I'm arriving very late in this thread but your question intrigued me. I have seen one instance of what I would term a "cyber suicide" in an online community. In that instance, the user--a well-known member who was liked and respected by many--simply stopped coming to the community. The reaction of members was not at all unlike what one might expect if an individual vanished without a word from your own physical community, including the well-known phases of grief. In terms of staging a "cyber death" I suspect that in some cases, you're correct in noting that the user may be seeking attention or perhaps even validation of the worth of his online identity (If they really loved me, they'd all miss me). They may be seeking to manipulate another user, (See what you made me do!), or perhaps seeking to manipulate the community's reactions to a particular user (John Doe made Jane Doe commit cyber suicide!!!). Another possibility is that the user has been the recipient of online harrassment or stalking and thus, wishes to permanently "disappear" from the community. One possibility I've toyed with is that perhaps what those particular users are most seeking is not the finality of death, but the ultimate power of resurrection.
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