Death has always been a mystery. The souls of the deceased have been thought to exist on mountaintops, in oceans, in the earth, and in the sky. But in an age when we live so much of our lives on the internet, shouldn’t there be some kind of home for the dead in the online world?
There should be an online private social network for recently deceased loved ones. Each page could be almost like a crowd-sourced eulogy, doing for the obituary pages what Craigslist did to classifies. On a dynamic webpage, friends and family could share memories, photos, stories, or videos. Together they would create a virtual collage of their living relationships with the deceased. Although they may seem macabre, some names for this service could be DeadBook, iMemoriam, or, my favorite, Youlogy.
A Youlogy page could be similar to a Facebook page in its variety of content (videos, short messages, photos, etc.) But it would also be similar to the private social network Path, which is a private journal shared only with close friends. Emulating the Path app would also make it easy for anyone in your close circle to share their memories on Youlogy to create a shared narrative of a loved one’s life.
Variations on this idea have been tried, but none is comprehensive or simple. Actual Facebook memorial pages seem a bit creepy and misplaced in the social network of the living. Virtual Memorials allows users to create an online memorial website, but it costs $55. Memory-Of allows users to create a memorial website (for private viewers) and even publish a memorial book. Other websites, like Much Loved and Last Memories offer similar services, but without the same sense of depth or breadth as Youlogy would.
This website/app would essentially create a new kind of afterlife in the online world. The Youlogy page could be constantly revised, new memories could be added, and new stories told. The dead wouldn’t actually be gone, because they would still be alive in the minds of their friends. This website would be an active reflection of our enduring memory which will never get lost.