Why a Teen Kidnapping Victim Turned to Ask.fm for Solace

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By Fran Berkman2013-08-15 20:38:41 UTC

Less than one week after her rescue, California teen Hannah Anderson supposedly described her kidnapping on the social networking site ask.fm. She also appears to have used Instagram to grieve for her mother and 8-year-old brother, who were both murdered.

The ask.fm user Hannahbanana722, which the Associated Press reports as Hannah Anderson, has been active on the question-and-answer site for more than a month. An 11-day break in the account's activity ended Tuesday, just a few days after Anderson's rescue.

For about a day, the ask.fm user Hannahbanana722 answered questions about the kidnapping, among other things, before the account was disabled around noon Tuesday. It was reactivated about 20 minutes later with what appeared to be significantly less content but was quickly disabled again just a few minutes later. At the time of publishing, the account was still disabled.

Several skeptical ask.fm users asked why she would want to talk about such a horrific experience so soon afterwards, but social network theory expert Eric Rice told Mashable that talking about a recent traumatic experience on social media isn't uncommon for teens.

"Even though it might seem a little bit weird to adults. [...] In some ways this is a normal response in the contemporary era for teens," said Rice, who is an assistant professor of social work at the University of Southern California.

"This is just a way of storytelling, through social media, which is fairly normal and healthy response to trauma."

Rice added that the emotional distance of online interaction may actually make it easier to disclose details about extremely sensitive subjects.

See also: For Anybody Hurting: A YouTube Video Confronts Darkness

Neither Anderson nor any of her family members have confirmed the authenticity of the ask.fm posts, but there is considerable evidence suggesting they belong to Anderson. The AP sourced the mother of one of Anderson's close friends, Alan MacNabb. She said her son confirmed that Hannahbanana722 is Anderson.

On ask.fm, Hannahbanana722 mentions someone named Alan several times in her answers, even before the account went on hiatus, and the user interacts with another whose listed name is "Alan Macnabb."

Ask.fm users are not readily able to change their user names, but it can be done by emailing one of the site's moderators, according to an online forum that dates back more than a year. The site has not replied to our multiple inquiries.

Another clue that suggests the posts are authentic is that there's a link to Hannahbanana722's ask.fm page on what appears to be Anderson's Instagram profile, which has photos dating back to August 2012. There was a similar gap in activity on the Instagram page, spanning from Aug. 3 until Tuesday, when the following picture was posted:

I cant sleep. it hasnt processed in my head yet, I still can't believe what happened. It hasn't even hit me yet that you guys are gone. I don't want to believe it. I already miss you guys so much. But god needed two perfect angels with him up there to get me home and that's exactly what you guys did. I'm sorry I didn't say I love you enough. And I wish I could see you one last time. You both didn't deserve any of this. And I'm sorry I couldn't have saved you. I love you guys so much. And I'll always know your watching over me. Ethan I hope your having fun playing with Cali up there and being a football player like you wanted to be, and mom I'm going to stay strong and go thoroughly with life to make you proud, say hi to grandpa Bob and the rest of the family. I promise I won't let you down. Love you both with all my heart. I'll get to see you guys again it may be soon or awhile but I promise I will see you again. #ripethan #riptina #iloveyou #imissyou #cantbelieveit #hannahstrong

Why Ask.fm?

Half of ask.fm's more than 50 million registered users are younger than 18 years old, one of the sites founders told CNET , and it's a very popular online hangout for teens. Ask.fm is the 141st most popular website over the past three months, according to the web info site Alexa.

Though most of the ask.fm posts were in response to other users offering their condolences and well-wishes, the user thought to be Anderson also made some extremely candid disclosures, saying she wants people to know the truth about the situation.

She said the hardest part of the ordeal was learning that her brother and mother were dead.

"I wish I could go back in time and risk my life to try and save theirs," Anderson said. "I will never forgive myself for not trying harder to save them."

FBI agents found Anderson, 16, in Idaho, where they shot and killed her suspected kidnapper, James Lee DiMaggio. The search began when Anderson's mother and 8-year-old brother — Christina Anderson and Ethan Anderson — were found burned to death in DiMaggio's home outside of San Diego. DiMaggio was a close family friend, and both Anderson and her brother considered him an uncle, according to the AP.

When asked if she was happy the FBI shot DiMaggio or if she would have preferred they capture him and give him life in prison, the ask.fm user thought to be Anderson replied, "He deserved what he got."

The user also told of how she was barley fed, how DiMaggio threatened her with a gun and how she was forced to carry heavy backpacks to help get him to "the river."

Someone typed, "I hope he burns in hell," to which Hannahbanan722 replied, "Me too."

She said she was glad to see her father upon being rescued, but that it was "a little uncomfortable about it at first." When someone asked why it was uncomfortable, she replied, "Well personally it's kinda hard to see any guy adult right now."

Rice said researchers are trying to keep up with how teens are using social media, which he called an emerging phenomenon. "The rules aren't entirely set yet," he said. "Teens are making up the rules as they go along." That seemed to be the case with Hannahbanan722 when other users leaned hard on a particularly uncomfortable topic.

Several users asked if she was sexually assaulted, to which Hannahbanan722 replied that she was not allowed to talk about it. But when pressed on the matter even more, she pushed back harder.

"Y'all know a hell of a lot already," she told one user.

Aside from answering questions about the kidnapping, Hannahbanana722 also fielded more common questions. If it was Anderson, her favorite singer is Ke$ha, and friends, family, the color pink and "obviously food" make her happy.

Anderson has quite a backlog of Instagram follower requests at the moment, according to Hannahbanana722. She also reportedly has a Twitter account but can't remember her handle because she rarely uses it. When someone told her that she was "worldwide trending on Twitter," Hannahbanana722 replied, "Lol."

Image: Instagram, _hannah_x0x0

Topics: ask.fm, california, crime, death, forum, kidnapping, Social Media, U.S.