Would your online friends be able to find out if you kicked the bucket?

Hail 2 Da Chimp · 30-04-2008 02:25PM

stevec wrote: »

boardsies don't die - they reincarnate as someone else.

Ask 6th.

That's right, I remember a guy who used to post on here called 6th who croaked recently.
No-one I know knows about my secret interweb life where I get up to all sorts of crazy shenanigans!

metaoblivia · 30-04-2008 02:37PM

No one here would know if I died.
But last week, a fairly popular poster in the online gymnastics community died. He was a blogger, ran a really helpful site for gymnastics, made many montages, and attended all the major gymnastics events. His death was discovered by the online community when he stopped updating his blog, and then an online obituary appeared in his town's local newspaper. He was 21. It said that he died unexpectedly at home. The rest focused on his life, his interests, etc.
So now, everyone's curious as to how he died, and at least one forum has named their Video/Montage forum after him.

Ross_Mahon · 30-04-2008 02:48PM

metaoblivia wrote: »

No one here would know if I died.
But last week, a fairly popular poster in the online gymnastics community died. He was a blogger, ran a really helpful site for gymnastics, made many montages, and attended all the major gymnastics events. His death was discovered by the online community when he stopped updating his blog, and then an online obituary appeared in his town's local newspaper. He was 21. It said that he died unexpectedly at home. The rest focused on his life, his interests, etc.
So now, everyone's curious as to how he died, and at least one forum has named their Video/Montage forum after him.

Its nice to know that even when your dead, your blog echoes on. I don't think people would discover your dead until they read your bebo with messages left by relatives.

antodeco · 30-04-2008 04:00PM

No one actually knows Im alive, except for the moment they read my post. Assuming they are reading it the moment I write it! I could die 2 minutes later, yet according to boards (dependant if the weird virtual hour thing happens again!) I could still be alive. Oh interesting. Lets call CSI. That'll fook with their heads :pac:

do you love it? · 30-04-2008 04:03PM

nobody would know!!!!!!how odd, peopl would be like how are you ahhhahahaha and youd be dead.

hmmm

bennyx_o · 30-04-2008 04:09PM

Doubt anyone on boards would know if I died, doubt many people on here would care tbh. :pac: I don't use bebo too much, but my cousins are on it so I'm sure they'd mention it somewhere.

Lizzykins · 30-04-2008 04:23PM

For the last year or so I've been in contact with a long lost second coisin once removed who's in England. The guy is 70 and after nearly a year of almost daily emails he just dropped off the radar. I even tried emailing one of his sons whose email address happened to be on a joke email that the dad had sent to a few people. No response from that either! Luckily enough I have an address so I can write and surely someone will let me know what happened. It's bugging me now.

The_Minister · 30-04-2008 05:55PM

I was thinking of this a while ago, when a boardsie who I had alot of time for passed away.
I began to think of all the accounts that suddenly, just stop posting.
Most of the time it will be because they moved on, but I would bet alot of money that we have lost people on these boards, and never even noticed.

And, on topic, probably the UCD posters would know, and one of them might mention it to someone, probably in the thread to see who gets to replace me.
Actually, scratch that, my corpse wouldn't be cold before Stepherunie had started that thread:D

Reesy · 30-04-2008 06:26PM

I've given my password file to my brother - the idea is that if I were to die suddenly, he could get in to my accounts & notify people as appropriate. I'm only an occasional poster on Boards, so I guess he wouldn't take action here, but elsewhere.

Aisling(",) · 30-04-2008 06:36PM

people would know ive croaked it if they looked at my bebo otherwise id have faded away

sam34 · 30-04-2008 06:38PM

i dont really feel comfortable with the idea of giving someone my passwords- dont want people reading through my private emails, even after im dead. so i guess my onlinr friends and the boardies will just think ive disappeared...

kaimera · 30-04-2008 06:47PM

I have my friends told to post on boards when I croke.

Not expecting much said however...maybe a tribute on the UL forum

nkay1985 · 30-04-2008 07:25PM

None of the real people I know are on boards. Well I'm sure some are, in fact I know for a fact some are. We don't cross paths here and don't meet or talk at all regularly so they probably don't know I'm on here. With regard to other sites like Bebo or whatever, anyone I know would be able to look at my friends list and notify the appropriate people, wihout ever having to access my account. I wouldn't like someone logging onto my accounts even after my death, not one bit.

The only other question that occurs to me is: If you found out someone from on here had passed away, where would you post it??? I know there are a lot of forums here, but not a death notices one!

MCMLXXXIII · 30-04-2008 07:34PM

I have two friends that have died while their online profiles are stuck in a space between secure passwords, outdated profile songs, and the happy pictures they have posted of themselves.

Both of them committed suicide, both were not expected. One just has myspace, the other has myspace and facebook. They didn't know each other, but both died within 3 weeks of each other. It happened almost a year ago, and all the online profiles still exist...exactly as they were before.

It's kinda creepy thinking that their legacy is a self-made html script showing only what they wanted the world to see.

Phantasm · 30-04-2008 08:27PM

I wondered about this before. Don't know why considering I have such a hectic and exciting life :rolleyes:

But I figured that those people I know online might look on my Bebo if they hadn't heard from me and there they'd find aload of RIP comments.

Ah, good old technology.

nkay1985 · 30-04-2008 08:38PM

MCMLXXXIII wrote: »

I have two friends that have died while their online profiles are stuck in a space between secure passwords, outdated profile songs, and the happy pictures they have posted of themselves.

Both of them committed suicide, both were not expected. One just has myspace, the other has myspace and facebook. They didn't know each other, but both died within 3 weeks of each other. It happened almost a year ago, and all the online profiles still exist...exactly as they were before.

It's kinda creepy thinking that their legacy is a self-made html script showing only what they wanted the world to see.

Sorry to hear that, adn eys it is slightly creepy, but I also think it's quite nice.
If any one of us dies in the morning, you live on in your friends' and loved ones' memories, but those memories may fade a little over time. With things like online profiles, it's almost like seeing the person again - seeing how they write, what kind of pictures they have, what kind of music they were into etc.

And while we've always been able to reminisce with friends and look at photos etc, this way it's all only a few clicks of a mouse away.

BeerWolf · 30-04-2008 09:09PM

In another community forum, we've not seen someone for ages last year.

After awhile a good friend of his got worried and decided to look through a couple of things and, sadly, eventaully came across the absent fella's name in the obituaries.

kelle · 30-04-2008 09:22PM

I recently enquired in the Parenting forum about a constant user who I hadn't seen a post from in ages. I checked her profile and found she hadn't logged on since January - bit strange for someone who joined in Mar 2006 and had over 1600 posts! I enquired about what happened her, but nobody has been able to enlighten me. I hope that maybe she just found a life outside Boards.ie!

Rowley Birkin QC · 30-04-2008 09:28PM

Is there such a thing as online friends?!? Really?

My gf died in a car crash 2 years ago coming home from oxygen and her bebo is stil the same, it's a comfort though just to look at it sometimes.
Obviously I get more comfort from gifts she gave me and photos but it is her feelings and personality up there on a public page.

AckwelFoley · 30-04-2008 09:32PM

I was admitted to Hospital last November.

I txted an aquaintance i had on the forum

When i came back after a few weeks, there were 22 pages of get well soon sentiments.

Loopy · 30-04-2008 09:42PM

thelastangryman wrote: »

I have all my passwords and e-mails on my will.

Great idea, Im updating my will in the morning must include passwords etc

Rowley Birkin QC · 30-04-2008 09:50PM

Come off it lads, putting e-mail passwords in wills???

Loopy · 30-04-2008 09:56PM

bigkev49 wrote: »

Come off it lads, putting e-mail passwords in wills???

No-one else knows my passwords - what the hell will it matter your nearest and dearest knowing if you've snuffed it?

Rowley Birkin QC · 30-04-2008 10:03PM

How many mates do you have online?

As in people you would trust with confidential info about you, go on the beer with etc. etc.

I couldn't count someone that I exclusively know from online interractions as a friend so I don't get the point of leaving passwords in a will.

Granted my gf's parents got some comfort from the messages left on her bebo but they were all from people who knew her from school college etc. I really don't believe in online "friends"

Loopy · 30-04-2008 10:56PM

bigkev49 wrote: »

My gf died in a car crash 2 years ago coming home from oxygen and her bebo is stil the same, it's a comfort though just to look at it sometimes.

Im so sorry, I hadn't seen this post. As you say though, there is a little comfort for you and her parents in her Bebo page. I have a few online friends and think it would be nice for my daughters and partner to be able to inform them if something did happen to me.

Rowley Birkin QC · 30-04-2008 11:04PM

Ah it's cool man, don't stress over it.

My point it that she didn't have any exclusively "online" friends as such.The only messages on the site were from shool and college friends.

ixoy · 30-04-2008 11:35PM

Wasn't there some site developed that would notify all your online acquaintances if you died? They'd have some sort of program activated when you died, presumably from a simple instruction in your will.

Tar.Aldarion · 30-04-2008 11:39PM

Yeh my gf might tell ye. Hurray I got him!

GrumPy · 30-04-2008 11:39PM

ixoy wrote: »

Wasn't there some site developed that would notify all your online acquaintances if you died? They'd have some sort of program activated when you died, presumably from a simple instruction in your will.

Sounds useful, anyone know anything? links?

Firetrap · 30-04-2008 11:49PM

This topic could lead to a whole new thread - how many people from your off-line life know who you are on Boards? Or indeed any other forums come to that.

Would your online friends be able to find out if you kicked the bucket?

Comments