“Blue Whale”: blog posts about the suicide game

Abstract

This study analyzed blog posts linked to the “Blue Whale” game in blogs. A Qualitative study was conducted on Tumblr Posts in Portuguese by searching for the string “baleia azul” (“blue whale”), and were submitted to thematic analysis. The main themes were: "Understanding and support", "Opposition to the game or the players", "Blue Whale game information", "(Family) Relationship" and "Vulnerability". Bloggers expressed warm, understanding or derogatory attitudes towards people prone or who identified themselves to the game. Games related to suicidal behavior may raise diverse interest level and diverse attitudes and behaviors in a young audience, being a risk for vulnerable individuals; it needs to be addressed in preventive strategies.