I find it so interesting how the only thing people take away from the slenderman stabbings is "FICTION AFFECTED REALITY!" (even though they don't advocate to ban slenderman/creepy-pastas) & not:

1) We should provide the necessary institutions to help people who are mentally ill.

2) Mental illnesses have historically been disgustingly under-diagnosed in women & AFABs so we should work on addressing those issues in medical & non-medical fields.

3) Guardians should be aware of mental health issues & ways to help address those mental health issues in kids.

4) Adding onto 1, those institutions should be accessible to EVERYONE & further adding to that, these institutions should be easily accessible for people in poor neighbourhoods.

5) We should not scorn, alienate or emotionally neglect people with mental illnesses & signs of them.

6) People, especially guardians need to stop brushing off everything in teenagers as being an "angsty phase" as that careless generalization can & has led to many, MANY issues in the long & short run for many people.

7) More education on mental health. PLEASE.

8) More awareness on mental health. PLEASE.

9) We need to stop acting as if physical health is somehow "more important" than mental health when they both are equally important as they both can affect & hinder & make us struggle in many aspects of our lives.

10) Again, women & AFABs have historically & been disturbingly under-diagnosed. This issue is made even worse especially when those people are very young age the times in which those mental illnesses begin to further develop. We should bring light to mental illnesses in AFABs

And there's so much more I can add.

It's almost as if the reason why fiction may affect reality is because they are multiple societal factors at play & it's far more complex than "monkey see monkey do" or something.