This may seem like a morbid “Want to See”, but hear me out.
I have friends across the country. I have friends I haven’t seen in years. This was made possible because of social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and technology like texting, email , and phone calls.
I’m a part of different social groups, different communities…and I can keep them apart from each other.
On top of that, in today’s age of social media, algorithms determine what we see is based on a team of programmer’s hell bent on getting us addicted to social media and finding ways to monetize us.
If I died, there are people who may know me, but may not hear news of my passing because of algorithms that don’t reflect their actual priorities/values. There are people who wouldn’t even be able to be reached by the people making the arrangements for my death.
It causes me genuine worry that death in the modern age, for all the talk of how connected we are, may hit us long after the rituals and community grieving has passed. I worry about how others would hear of my own death, but also how I would hear about the death of others.
Death and dying are a part of life. We’re willing to plan out all the other parts of our lives, including saving for retirement, and writing a will for our material possessions. Doesn’t it make sense to plan how we’re going to tell our friends and family?
So this is my want to see: an app that emails, texts, FB messages, and DM’s everyone you know that you have died.
Let me know what you think, or if you would be interested in working on something like this with me HERE.