Death and the Internet
Over the weekend I learned about a classmate that had recently passed away. Last night while I was on Facebook, I ran across his profile. Reading what people had written on his wall was sad and poignant and beautiful. His family writing to him since his passing was so heart wrenching to read, but somehow seemed to be lethargic.
Since I’m in the social media business, it really made me think about the situation. I belong to somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 different sites. What is the appropriate thing to do with these profiles when someone passes away? Do you leave it open and allow people to continue to post to it? Do you close the profile completely, or do you turn it into some sort of memorial?
I think I lean toward leaving the profile open and allow people to continue to post to it. What are your thoughts?