I do not know Mark nor have I ever read his books, but this has been an interesting phenom he pulled and it is attention getting - I came to this story through slashdot. I think it is small-minded to imagine that things are different when people all over the world have been consuming Mark's works and have relied on that material as a resource day in and day out. Pretty bizarre. Wake up to the new world that Mark blogged about... HTML is the medium for publishing in our age and maybe one of the unintended consequences of that model is celebrity. There is nothing anyone can do to remove their internet likeness from the internet which seems silly that Mark of all people would attempt it without the world reacting - isn't that referred to as naive. It would have been easier to let all the resources rot to obscurity and no attention would have been drawn to his disappearance.
Did it occur to you that disappearing in such a manner might be similar to death and cause a similar reaction in people? Maybe their is a grievance cycle going on with people with such a sudden departure from their lives. One day the site is up, the next is a 410 with no explanation. For those where Mark's works were a reality, the sudden disappearance may be experienced like death as there is no explanation as to what was important to you is no longer and never will be. Are you a psychologist or sociologist that understands what is happening? Aren't you curious as to how it became that so many people depended on Mark's reality that do not know Mark personally? Who are you to react to those that are impacted psychologically to his disappearance? Do you claim to understand these things and how profound the internet affects us? I think you presume much about things you do not know about.
Did it occur to you that disappearing in such a manner might be similar to death and cause a similar reaction in people? Maybe their is a grievance cycle going on with people with such a sudden departure from their lives. One day the site is up, the next is a 410 with no explanation. For those where Mark's works were a reality, the sudden disappearance may be experienced like death as there is no explanation as to what was important to you is no longer and never will be. Are you a psychologist or sociologist that understands what is happening? Aren't you curious as to how it became that so many people depended on Mark's reality that do not know Mark personally? Who are you to react to those that are impacted psychologically to his disappearance? Do you claim to understand these things and how profound the internet affects us? I think you presume much about things you do not know about.
Good day to you.