#thanotechnology

               Oliver Misraje writes about thanotechnology, how our legacies outlast us online, ghosts in the digital space and some ways people use technology to process or express their grief in the article “The Internet is a Graveyard”. Misraje explains how after we die our digital remains, the data we leave behind on social media and other technological networks, form a “HTTP ghost” of the user we were. This ghost becomes our digital legacy, offering a snapshot of insight into our curated online personality and life in the 21st century more broadly. We are constantly creating digital archives — that we don’t own — of our day-to-day lives. These can be valuable historical resources for the future if Big Tech companies (like Facebook and Apple) don't delete them, but this means that these companies control the future of our historical narrative just like they control what happens with our current data.

               Often, the issue of digital legacies isn’t relevant until someone is already gone. If you’ve had a loved one pass is recent years then you may have had to go through the process of deleting or memorializing their social media accounts, which usually requires a proof of death; this may include a death certificate, obituary article, or an online will. A popular example is the Instagram account of child star Cameron Boyce, popular from the Disney Channel show Jessie, who died in 2019 from complications with epilepsy. His account still retains 12.1 million followers, but has a distinct “Remembering” banner in the bio.

Considering that 4.48 billion people use social media (that’s more than half the population!!) and there will be a projected 4.9 billion inactive accounts on Facebook by 2100, it’s important to know how to protect your digital legacy. FYI, the best way to ensure your digital accounts are handled when you die is to create an online will or appoint a legacy contact who has access to your passwords when the time comes.

Another way technology can help us come to terms with death is through emerging digital tools that help us grieve. Misraje’s article contains examples of using AI or chatbots to seek closure, trying Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, and the terrifying prospect of Big Tech monopolizing on our digital ghosts. Underappreciated online resources also include hotlines and messaging services that support people struggling with mental health issues or crises.

Another interesting suggestion from Misraje is poetic therapy. Humans have been writing poems about loss and in memoriam of loved ones since the days of Ancient Greece, and the poetic form of the elegy was popularized during the Renaissance. It led to classics like W.H. Auden’s “In Memory of W.B. Yeats” and the lyric, “Is it romantic how all my elegies / Eulogize me?” by Taylor Swift on the bonus track “the lakes” from her 2020 album folklore.

Eulogies and elegies are similar, with the key difference being that an elegy is typically some kind of prose, but both are writings that express sorrow or melancholy – usually over the loss of a family member, close friend, or lover. Misraje’s article includes an example of how a journalist named Vauhini Vara successfully prompted GPT-3 to write about her sister’s death. With the recent explosion of popularity for AI systems like ChatGPT, why not use the easily accessible digital tools at the tips of your fingers to process overwhelming emotions like grief and explore the human ability to create emotional connection with technology?

Or, if you’re feeling technology-adverse, you can always try it the old-fashioned way and write out your own feelings with a pen and some paper. Grief is one of those nearly intangible emotions, functioning – much like the Internet itself – in an omnipresent and difficult-to-pin-down way, and everyone has to experience and process it in their own time. Yet, regardless of your comfort level with using digital tools to grieve, it’s important to understand how thanotechnology is developing and the impact it can have on your digital legacy.

Ultimately, I’ll never be able to tell you what happens when you die, but I can advise you to protect your digital legacy – and pick a legacy contact who will never show your family your spam Instagram account.