There was another murder at another university near me in South Florida. The deceased student was a football player known to have been a star athlete and a good student. After receiving a fatal stab wound on campus and passing away, many friends and strangers began leaving well wishes and farewell messages on his Facebook profile. I thought to myself wow; this is just another way social media is impacting our lives. I wonder just how many Facebook profiles exist out there of people who have passed away and are now serving as memorials.
Is it weird that you could go to a Facebook profile and see the face and even the last messages of a person that has passed on? To be honest it is kind of odd to me, but I guess some feel it is a good way to keep the memory of the person alive and give people a chance to say goodbye. Even life after death is getting more technical. Although every civilization has its own funerary customs, most of ours in the Western World have started to “evolve”. We might look at other civilizations and think their customs are foreign; they might not make sense of ours.
Facebook pages hold a lot of information and memories from a person’s life. With daily status updates and posting mobile uploads, the people who live in the Facebook community with you begin to start putting a story together about who you are. Facebook is one of the most personal social media sites out there. Friends that have access to your profile can say goodbye.
After a relative or close family member contacts Facebook through a feedback form, you can ask to have a page memorialized. After it is confirmed that the person who contacted Facebook is legit and the person has indeed passed, all sensitive information is taken out and then the account becomes locked making sure no one could hack into the profile and disrespect the deceased’s “social remains”.
It’s kind of strange to see how the outpouring of support to a family and the way people mourn is changing due to technology and our social networking habits. Perhaps in the future, these details might be amended to your will. I was not able to find statistical information on just how many memorial profiles exist as well as the rate they are being created. If someone could find a credible source, please feel free to post a comment.
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I local photographer committed suicide (or is the PC term “chose to end his life”?) and his page is still up and it is spooky, because now I understand some of his final posts more clearly. I was wondering the other day if FB purges sites that go dormant. All the nice comments people left for his wife to read where amazing, but it’s strange to see “reconnect with…” pop up on my page when Iog in.
Hi Kimberly,
I totally agree…personally I would think viewing these pages is just plain spooky…especially if you are able to see photos of happier times, etc. But a good point you bring up is seeing the recent posts in the case of the person committing suicide and how now you understand his posts better. That’s kind of scary. Maybe someone could have stepped in.
Thank you for taking the time to comment,
Melissa
I think Memorial Pages are a great way to remember our loved ones. I created a Memorial Page on Facebook for Fallen Soldiers & Bikers. Other than chatting I have a list of Upcomming Events, Links, Notes, Discussions, Pictures, Videos, Military & Biker Quotes, ECT ECT, even a memorial list of names with ranking from their service, birthdate & date of passing with pictures. It’s a way to connect with people that have similar situations we are familiar & can associate with. I don’t want people to think there is a black cloud hanging overhead on that page, it is merely for remembering the goodtimes, funny things that have happened & to just be around people who understand. And not have to worry about some jerk comming along & making an ignorant comment on something he/she has no idea what they are talking about. WE need to vent, & having someone there at any givin time who understands is a godsend. Putting those thoughts to the side & ignoring them are not healthy. Shane Rockelman ~ Keokuk, Iowa
Re: your reply about memorials on FB and you had done one. Want to do one for my late wife. Is this procedure any different than just creating a regular page? If so what differenct do I need to do.
Thanks
Hi there. Did you ever figure out how to do this? I want to create a page for my brother who passed away long before there was Facebook. I don’t know if I should create a group, or make a community/organization page.
Thanks.
Lori