The memorial wall is devoted to more than 20,000 individuals who used the Seppukoo.com service in November 2009. The service enabled its users to commit a ‘social network suicide’ on Facebook. If the user decided to commit suicide there, his profile was deactivated and a farewell note was sent out to all of his friends. Because Facebook doesn’t allow its users to delete their profiles permanently and conserves their data, it actually imposes eternal life on them. Upon committing suicide, each user was able to create his own memorial wall where his last words were published and which his friends could visit to grieve their loss.
Instead of counting the number of friendships, Seppukoo counted the number of friends influenced to do the same. The service was named after the ritual suicide of samurai, with which they were able to preserve their honor instead of falling to disgrace by their enemies. Just like Facebook markets our desire to be somebody and to be connected, Seppukoo offered the opposite: an honorable death in social networks and separation from our virtual identities. Since December 2009, Seppukoo has been disabled by Facebook, but Les Liens Invisibles continue to invite users to commit to its DIY version.
The memorial wall was realised by MoTA at the SONICA 2012 in tribute to the service.
