Ghosts in Social Media and Beyond

I've been thinking about and wondering what happens to my deceased friends' social media accounts. There's nothing quite so haunting as seeing some of my deceased friends tagged in posts on facebook. They're long since gone, but they still get tagged in posts and photos in memoriam. Sometimes, I'm sad to say, I get a little excited only to remember the sad truth of their loss. And every time I log in to Skype I see my friend's name who passed away this year. I know that I can remove it, but I can't bring myself to do it. I guess I like the reminder that they once were there. I probably like it for the same reason I like wearing my grandmother's ring and necklace: I don't want to forget. And the more I remind myself, the more recent the memories feel to me.

Coincidentally, someone else was thinking about this topic with me yesterday. Spooky. And they wrote this post on the subject. It's kind of morbid to think about writing down usernames and email addresses in case you die. But now I think I might do it. That's what journals are for, right?


beck