The Ethics of Social Media After Death

In class, we have been discussing the ethics for a few weeks now. But recently, we came across a new topic: the ethics of social media after death.  After watching  Adam Ostrow TED talk, "After your final status update" and Cyberspace When You're Dead from the New York Times Magazine, I can say that I have an opinion about this issue.  Obviously, my opinion is based off of my morals and values.  

I feel that whether an online profile is up is the choice of the persons who had passed.  As we have seen in class, there are a variety of services offered for people's online profiles after death which clearly shows that there are a lot of people who care about their online profiles after death.  As Rob Walker said, "Not many people have given serious thought to these questions. Maybe that’s partly because what we do online still feels somehow novel and ephemeral, although it really shouldn't anymore. Or maybe it’s because pondering mortality is simply a downer."  I don't think my online profile is a big issue and I personally agree with Rob Walker.  However, as more and more people are switching from diaries and scrapbooks to blogs and online albums, the internet is becoming a place where loved ones can live forever.  

There are all these ethical questions: should your online personality live on? should your family members have a say? should this be included in a will?  I believe the person's family should decide what to do with their online accounts if the person who died didn't specify anything.  In addition, I feel that if the family knew the person well enough (which they should) that they would do whatever the passed wanted.  In addition, I feel that you should only include your online profiles on a will only if there are important stuff on it.  

Lastly, I was pretty surprised when Adam Ostrow mentioned holograms in his TED talk.  I can't even begin to understand why people would want a hologram of a lost loved one.  If I just came back from a funeral and immediately got a hologram of this person, I would not be moving on.  Getting a hologram of a lost loved one is like replacing them.  Furthermore, a hologram is not like any real person.  We recently had to write a response comparing the real and the virtual you.  If a hologram was created from the person's online profiles, and there was a significant difference between real and virtual them, then there would be a problem because the person wouldn't be the same.  

In conclusion, what to do with online profiles should be up to the person the profiles belong to or the family.  A facebook profile, for example, should not be a piece of property passed down but a memorial for the lost one.