Some things just refuse to die…like those zombies in movies that
take several bullets to the chest but it does not seem to stop them from
chasing you. Now, would you want your digital persona to be like one of those
zombies?
Did you know that there are online services available that help you decide what happens to your online profiles and social media accounts after you die? Who knew. We spend countless hours posting, sharing, updating until we die, do we really want that to continue AFTER we die as well?
In Adam Ostrow’s TEDtalk: After your final status update, he mentions, “[with new technology]…it is going to become possible to analyze an entire life’s worth of content.” Personally, I find it awkward to be forced to think about someone’s death all the time if I saw continual posts from them after their death every time I scroll through my news feed.
Robots that can interact like humans based on the content that we have created over our lifetimes? Interactive life-like holograms of yourself after death? Does anyone else think this is a bit creepy? Is it necessary? I think lives, even digital ones, need an expiration date…preferably the same date as your physical life.
Ostrow asks us to reflect on the reality of our digital personas living on and what it means for a definition of life and everything that comes after it. Our Facebook generation, unlike the generations that come before, will have access to some new technology that needs to be reflected upon. Do we embrace this new technology or not? Does it fit in with our religious views? How will it affect the people who are closest to us? Will it provide a false reality to our friends and families and prolong their mourning? There are many things to consider other than ourselves before deciding to let our digital persona live on.
Tedtalks Adam Ostrow: After your final status update [Web]. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/adam_ostrow_after_your_final_status_update.html
Did you know that there are online services available that help you decide what happens to your online profiles and social media accounts after you die? Who knew. We spend countless hours posting, sharing, updating until we die, do we really want that to continue AFTER we die as well?
In Adam Ostrow’s TEDtalk: After your final status update, he mentions, “[with new technology]…it is going to become possible to analyze an entire life’s worth of content.” Personally, I find it awkward to be forced to think about someone’s death all the time if I saw continual posts from them after their death every time I scroll through my news feed.
Robots that can interact like humans based on the content that we have created over our lifetimes? Interactive life-like holograms of yourself after death? Does anyone else think this is a bit creepy? Is it necessary? I think lives, even digital ones, need an expiration date…preferably the same date as your physical life.
Ostrow asks us to reflect on the reality of our digital personas living on and what it means for a definition of life and everything that comes after it. Our Facebook generation, unlike the generations that come before, will have access to some new technology that needs to be reflected upon. Do we embrace this new technology or not? Does it fit in with our religious views? How will it affect the people who are closest to us? Will it provide a false reality to our friends and families and prolong their mourning? There are many things to consider other than ourselves before deciding to let our digital persona live on.
Tedtalks Adam Ostrow: After your final status update [Web]. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/adam_ostrow_after_your_final_status_update.html
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