About

DEATH AND DIGITAL LEGACY

In 2007, a someone I followed on a social network died. In the aftermath I was struck with a feeling of connectedness through technology yet, I was grappling with a very real, physical conclusion.

Over the last few years, I’ve known more people, both directly and on the peripheral of my social networks, who have passed. As sure as taxes, it will happen to us all at some point. I started to notice that the ability to come together as a community, with technology bridging geography, was a comfort to many.

Yet, sometimes, I found a disconnect between people’s online communities and their physical lives, where families disregarded the long-established virtual lives of their loved ones out of a lack of understanding. Sometimes the social services themselves posed problems with a lack of policy or procedure for family and friends left to pick up the pieces.

As I started to talk about the impact of death in the digital community, more and more stories came forward of struggles, of solutions, and of people’s different reactions moving through the experience. Behaviours varied widely; what was acceptable to one individual was abhorrent to another. It became clear to me that, just as every birth is different, so is how each of us perceives and reacts to death.

Since first starting to explore this subject, I’ve realized that it stretches wider than ever imagined.  There are legal obstacles, thoughts about digital executors and wills, questions about ownership of content, security and privacy concerns, perspectives about the value of online content, discussions on the responsibility of software developers, and profound thinking about the concept of digital immortality.

My plan is to continue to research, speak and write about this subject, while using DeathAndDigitalLegacy.com as the platform for this work. I look forward to exploring this topic with you and to providing a resource that will help people to plan for the future and consider the implications of their own digital legacy.

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For media, or other inquiries, please contact me at Adele |at| DeathAndDigitalLegacy |dot| com.

ABOUT: Adele McAlear

Adele McAlear AvatarAn early adopter of social media and a technology enthusiast, Adele is a strategic marketing consultant with over 20 years marketing experience. In addition to consulting, she offers training and workshops in social media concepts, strategy and tools to help people build relationships online.

Living so much of her life on the web, Adele is researching, writing and speaking about Death and Digital Legacy out of personal interest. She does not represent any companies currently operating in the legacy field. Adele hopes to help people understand the personal, social and business implications of all that they leave behind.

In 2009, Profectio.com named Adele McAlear one of the Top 10 Most Influential Women in Social Media in Canada. Her expertise has been featured in The New York Times and The Globe & Mail’s Report on Business.

Adele McAlear speaks at events regularly about marketing, social media and digital legacy. Her marketing blog is adelemcalear.com.