[BigTex]

Has anyone ever had a good forum buddy who died?

This has got to be one of the more unusual emotions in today's world. You likely feel an intense and yet vague sense of loss, because it was probably a person you never met face to face, never talked to, never saw, and yet you may have felt incredibly close to them still.

I certainly share a lot more of myself here than I do most anywhere else. In the real world, the conversations just don't unfold on quite the same level as they do here (to put it mildly).

My sister-in-law passed away a couple of years ago unexpectedly and she was very active on several forums (not this one) and her husband had the unpleasant task of logging on to the forums she frequented and leaving a message that she had died. That may sound like a dumb (or dark) thing to do, but at the same time I understood how he felt--that the forum relationships she had were important to her, and letting the people on the forums know what happened to her just seemed like the right thing to do.

[Tyler_JC]

Maybe I'm just morbid but I think about that too.

If, God forbid, one of the regular posters were to die...would we ever find out?

Would their inbox just fill up over time and their threads be slowly pushed off of the front pages into obscurity?

If I die tomorrow, what exactly would happen?

People would wonder why I stopped posting. RGR, 128shot, Shadizar, Bas, and others would wonder why I never talk to them on PeakSpeak anymore. MrBill would wonder why I'm not helping to moderate the Economics forum. And so on...

And yet online, forever, would be thousands upon thousands of my inane ramblings on this forum. My member quotes would be circulated and people would wonder, "who was that guy?"

I was just thinking about this tonight looking at a friend's facebook. He passed away almost a year ago and yet people still frequently leave him messages on his wall. His photo albums, favorite activities, and personal information are permanently visible.

In the future as more and more internet users die (from the die off or non-die off related deaths), what happens to their electronic mausoleums?

Photos fade, memories fade, everyone who knows you will eventually die but your facebook profile or peakoil.com posting could be around...FOREVER.

How does society deal with that?

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'M')aybe I'm just morbid but I think about that too.

If, God forbid, one of the regular posters were to die...would we ever find out?

Would their inbox just fill up over time and their threads be slowly pushed off of the front pages into obscurity?

If I die tomorrow, what exactly would happen?

People would wonder why I stopped posting. RGR, 128shot, Shadizar, Bas, and others would wonder why I never talk to them on PeakSpeak anymore. MrBill would wonder why I'm not helping to moderate the Economics forum. And so on...

And yet online, forever, would be thousands upon thousands of my inane ramblings on this forum. My member quotes would be circulated and people would wonder, "who was that guy?"

I was just thinking about this tonight looking at a friend's facebook. He passed away almost a year ago and yet people still frequently leave him messages on his wall. His photo albums, favorite activities, and personal information are permanently visible.

In the future as more and more internet users die (from the die off or non-die off related deaths), what happens to their electronic mausoleums?

Photos fade, memories fade, everyone who knows you will eventually die but your facebook profile or peakoil.com posting could be around...FOREVER.

How does society deal with that?

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigTex', 'I') will digress here a little and ask if anyone has ever had a good forum buddy who actually died?

[Lumpy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'M')aybe I'm just morbid but I think about that too.

If, God forbid, one of the regular posters were to die...would we ever find out?

Would their inbox just fill up over time and their threads be slowly pushed off of the front pages into obscurity?

If I die tomorrow, what exactly would happen?

[Ferretlover]

It is much easier to not be concerned about the demise of people whom one does not know than it is to be worried about those whom one does know.
There are many posters here whose death would sadden me deeply.
So, Don't die anytime soon. I have enough problems to deal with at the moment!

[Lumpy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ferretlover', 'I')t is much easier to not be concerned about the demise of people whom one does not know than it is to be worried about those whom one does know.
There are many posters here whose death would sadden me deeply.
So, Don't die anytime soon. I have enough problems to deal with at the moment!

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBean', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jasonraymondson', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('patience', 'I') tend to think that the problem children who offend me will make enough problems for themselves. They don't need any help. Those that don't listen to reason aren't worth the effort to try to communicate with. But a well reasoned debate is a learning experience, so even the worst of us can stimulate that.

My Dad said that no one is a total loss. They can always be useful as a bad example for others.

[Tyler_JC]

Is it alright if I split this thread?

I feel like we can't have a serious discussion and a joke discussion in the same thread, especially about a topic like this.

I didn't mean to hijack the thread...

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'I')s it alright if I split this thread?

I feel like we can't have a serious discussion and a joke discussion in the same thread, especially about a topic like this.

I didn't mean to hijack the thread...

[Tyler_JC]

I don't mean the serious question of who we want to kill off. That's the joke discussion.

I'm talking about the serious discussion of what happens to our digital history (forum posts, myspace pages, etc.) when we die.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '
')I'm talking about the serious discussion of what happens to our digital history (forum posts, myspace pages, etc.) when we die.

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'I') don't mean the serious question of who we want to kill off. That's the joke discussion.

I'm talking about the serious discussion of what happens to our digital history (forum posts, myspace pages, etc.) when we die.

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '
')I'm talking about the serious discussion of what happens to our digital history (forum posts, myspace pages, etc.) when we die.

[BigTex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'I') didn't mean to hijack the thread...

[jasonraymondson]

So are we going to split off the discussion, or should we just keep talking about who we are going to miss?

[BigTex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jasonraymondson', 'S')o are we going to split off the discussion, or should we just keep talking about who we are going to miss?

[Ferretlover]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lumpy', 'H')ey here is a question -- what do we all call each other ... not name-calling. I mean, are we cyber-friends? That implies knowing more about one another than most of us do.

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ferretlover', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lumpy', 'H')ey here is a question -- what do we all call each other ... not name-calling. I mean, are we cyber-friends? That implies knowing more about one another than most of us do.

[bodigami]

This isn't meant to "darken more" this discussion but I have thought and come to conclusions about this.

Basically for almost all net accounts but peakoil.com, they're basically a digital legacy. But with the peakoil.com accounts something more should be on consideration. Tracking who is dying where because of what when TFSHTF... maybe with a google (or other) maps of death.