A really interesting article has popped up on Mashable in the last hour – and I’d been talking to my Mum about this this afternoon… what happens to your digital accounts/data when you die? And what should those, such as me (and in fact most people) do to prepare a ‘digital will’ to say what others can do with your accounts if you die?
Jed Brubaker has studied ‘post-mortem social networking’ for 3 years.
“I think what the really interesting thing is here is that the online social networks we have are radically changing our relationship with death,” he said. “It used to be your mom told you someone died. Now, with Facebook that guy you knew in Kindergarden — you’re connected to him, so when he dies you’ll know. Your generation will have more encounters with death than ever before because we’ll never have lost anyone.”
I’m thinking TV immortalised a great many famous people, continually seeing them ‘young’ on TV, but social media takes this to a new level.
See the Facebook ‘If I Die’ app, which allows you to send out your last words as a Facebook status.
