I have to admit that I’m fascinated with this stuff because I had an idea for such a service many years ago. Yes, I know it’s morbid and a little sad and disturbing but that’s life or death in this case. I remember coming up with the idea after watching the movie “My Life” starring Michael Keaton. In the film he played a dying man that videotapes a bunch of messages for his newborn son. It was a great movie but a difficult thing to experience because of the subject matter. Still, the concept of capturing messages for your loved ones is vastly interesting, isn’t it?
Obviously, the downside to this idea is that everything would be lost if this service goes out of business. They claim that they will send your emails for up to 10 years after your demise with their “Silver Lining” package and your profile will stay online for up to one year after you die with their free plan. You can send 25 emails to loved ones with the free plan and 500 with the premium package.
My idea is a little different than what is offered up here. My service would also aggregate all of our online profiles, messages, emails, etc. This would allow your loved ones to have access to all of your accounts and either save things or terminate accounts as well as notify and inform all of your online friends and contacts.
Death Policies on Social Networks are D.O.A
Like it or not, we must address the matter of death when it comes to our online lives, not just offline. What happens to all of those online accounts once someone passes away? Here’s an excellent piece on the different ways popular services handle death of members and the many ways they fail at it.
The best answer appears to involve the OpenID Project which provides single sign-on for countless services. They have a good death policy that would be ideal because it would allow loved ones to notify thousands of service providers of someone’s death with one simple notification to OpenID. They wouldn’t have to contact each and every service which would save a great deal of time and heartache.
What are your thoughts on this subject matter? Do you prefer to be an ostriche and stick your head in the ground and not think about it or is this something that should be addressed because death like taxes are inevitable and eternal?
Social networks need better policies regarding the death of members. This will make some of you uncomfy. http://is.gd/imbD
RT @Paisano: Social networks need better policies regarding the death of members. This will make some of you uncomfy. http://is.gd/imbD
RT @Paisano: Social networks need better policies regarding the death of members. This will make some of you uncomfy. http://is.gd/imbD
Social networks need better policies regarding the death of members. http://is.gd/imbD (via @Paisano)- I think this is a beautiful concept
Social networks need better policies regarding the death of members. This will make some of you uncomfy. http://is.gd/imbD
RT @Paisano: Social networks need better policies regarding the death of members. This will make some of you uncomfy. http://is.gd/imbD
RT @Paisano: Social networks need better policies regarding the death of members. This will make some of you uncomfy. http://is.gd/imbD
Social networks need better policies regarding the death of members. http://is.gd/imbD (via @Paisano)- I think this is a beautiful concept
Should social networks (and should we) have better death policies in place?- http://thepaisano.com/ghost-mail/
RT @chrisbrogan What happens to our social networks when we die? http://tinyurl.com/c27mxp
Should social networks (and should we) have better death policies in place?- http://thepaisano.com/ghost-mail/
RT @chrisbrogan What happens to our social networks when we die? http://tinyurl.com/c27mxp
Great post!
I have an “Oh Sh!t” folder at home on my pc. My closest friend has the password. In this file is login information for my online presence and she can do with it as she sees fit.
It would be nice to have a web service but I worry about how death could be verified. How on earth do they know, even with a death certificate, that the person that died is the same with the online service?
Overall, I really like the idea of the emails after death. But right now I prefer to handle the access to social accounts after death, manually.
PS: Maybe it’s just my twisted mind but I can see people using this for hoaxes. Thoughts?
Great post!
I have an “Oh Sh!t” folder at home on my pc. My closest friend has the password. In this file is login information for my online presence and she can do with it as she sees fit.
It would be nice to have a web service but I worry about how death could be verified. How on earth do they know, even with a death certificate, that the person that died is the same with the online service?
Overall, I really like the idea of the emails after death. But right now I prefer to handle the access to social accounts after death, manually.
PS: Maybe it’s just my twisted mind but I can see people using this for hoaxes. Thoughts?
OpenID management for something like a death registry is a good idea, but still hard to keep away from pranksters (Steve Jobs and MSM come to mind). It is an issue, but expensive for free networks to keep track of. Which is why paying for validated IDs, maybe through OpenID is not a bad way to go for more authentic identities.
OpenID management for something like a death registry is a good idea, but still hard to keep away from pranksters (Steve Jobs and MSM come to mind). It is an issue, but expensive for free networks to keep track of. Which is why paying for validated IDs, maybe through OpenID is not a bad way to go for more authentic identities.
@Sherryayn
I like the concept of an “Oh Sh!t” folder. My problem is that I have accounts scattered all over the place because OpenID wasn’t available back in teh day (and by that I mean just a few months ago, hah).
I graduated not too long ago and I always thought it was strange when someone on campus passed away and people would comment on their Facebook wall. No one expected a response but it was a way to wish that person well.
I’d rather have someone I trusted deactivate all of my accounts, even though I’ve invested so much time in keeping them current, etc. Even with the Web, I don’t expect to try to “live on” like that… I don’t know if my family would be able to handle me not going away when that’s exactly what has happened.
Very sensitive but very interesting subject.
@Sherryayn
I like the concept of an “Oh Sh!t” folder. My problem is that I have accounts scattered all over the place because OpenID wasn’t available back in teh day (and by that I mean just a few months ago, hah).
I graduated not too long ago and I always thought it was strange when someone on campus passed away and people would comment on their Facebook wall. No one expected a response but it was a way to wish that person well.
I’d rather have someone I trusted deactivate all of my accounts, even though I’ve invested so much time in keeping them current, etc. Even with the Web, I don’t expect to try to “live on” like that… I don’t know if my family would be able to handle me not going away when that’s exactly what has happened.
Very sensitive but very interesting subject.
Interesting and morbid at the same time. Death is indeed inevitable, unavoidable and uncomfortable for most to deal with while still breathing. Like a will has provisions for handling your estate, it should also include a means to either terminate your digital life, or provide for a means for it to live on.
Interesting and morbid at the same time. Death is indeed inevitable, unavoidable and uncomfortable for most to deal with while still breathing. Like a will has provisions for handling your estate, it should also include a means to either terminate your digital life, or provide for a means for it to live on.
I once belonged to an online prayer group. Everyone had their share of problems. One of the women had cancer and she knew she'd be dieing soon. She'd get worse and better and worse and better. But, in the midst of her own turmoil she was a great support to the rest of us. We got used to her encouraging words.I logged on one day and received an notification from her sister. Our friend had died during the night. I was sad. But it was also extremely difficult to put it to rest because I didn't know her name, or where she lived because we were only online friends. I tried emailing her hoping her sister would reply with more info, but she didn't, then finally the account was closed. I too thought of this same type of service, and also more along the lines you mention. But I even have a problem keeping my own address book cleaned out and up to date, so trying to manage a “death notification list” would just be another burden. What I'm doing now is keeping my logins on a piece of paper, and my Will will tell where it is. Then, if someone wants to, they can notify my online buds and associates. Other than that, I guess I'll just fade away. But its not just online. My Dad died about 4 years ago. I still get snail-mail for credit card apps and life insurance.
I once belonged to an online prayer group. Everyone had their share of problems. One of the women had cancer and she knew she'd be dieing soon. She'd get worse and better and worse and better. But, in the midst of her own turmoil she was a great support to the rest of us. We got used to her encouraging words.
I logged on one day and received an notification from her sister. Our friend had died during the night. I was sad. But it was also extremely difficult to put it to rest because I didn't know her name, or where she lived because we were only online friends. I tried emailing her hoping her sister would reply with more info, but she didn't, then finally the account was closed.
I too thought of this same type of service, and also more along the lines you mention. But I even have a problem keeping my own address book cleaned out and up to date, so trying to manage a “death notification list” would just be another burden. What I'm doing now is keeping my logins on a piece of paper, and my Will will tell where it is. Then, if someone wants to, they can notify my online buds and associates. Other than that, I guess I'll just fade away. But its not just online. My Dad died about 4 years ago. I still get snail-mail for credit card apps and life insurance.
Type your comment here.Nice one. I have stumbled and twittered this for my friends. Others no doubt will like it like I did.
Type your comment here.Nice one. I have stumbled and twittered this for my friends. Others no doubt will like it like I did.
Type your comment here.Nice one. I have stumbled and twittered this for my friends. Others no doubt will like it like I did.
Type your comment here.Nice one. I have stumbled and twittered this for my friends. Others no doubt will like it like I did.