Only marginally related to Shirky but ... read this and ask yourself about every possible manifestation of your own online identity. Think about the parts you regard as private or expressions of your self. Then imagine what would or wouldn't happen to them after your death.
This is the go-to site on the subject. Digital Beyond also contemplates, interestingly, the value of online disclosures as sources for future research. We live in a world of millions on Mary Sillimans.
1 comment:
This article covers two very separate aspects of on-line presence. That virtual property was up for grabs is trivial. Sorry. That a rival group massacred a group of mourners, that's just weird. It was a real person who died, so yes it was in bad taste, but it was just a virtual massacre. But this business about what happens to correspondence and other on-line information after a person really dies is serious. We have passwords and ids for a reason. We only publish and provide access to a specific audience for a reason. Just because someone dies doesn't mean his or her thoughts and feelings should be exposed. And frankly, it could possibly involve unflattering remarks about those left behind. Why add that to the already unhappy situation? Any bank account passwords or other such information should be left to the estate’s executor in a formal way but not opened up by the courts to anyone who asks.
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