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Loading ...I’m finding Twitter to be one of the more pleasurable experiences I’ve had on the Internet. The connections I’m making and am seeing being made are amazing. The way many of us banded together to use “peavatars” in support of Susan Reynolds was amazing. That’s the beauty of community and social media.
Twitter, to me, is not a community itself, but instead has a series of interconnected series of them. Just like the real world. But in the real world, tragedies happen.
And this week a horrendous tragedy happened on a highway in Louisiana. Ashley Spencer lost her life. She had happened to be @ashpeamomma on Twitter.
Now, I began thinking of a service that I would hope Twitter could consider installing some time ago. It first occured to me following the death of Marc Orchant. Three days after I began following him he had a massive heart attack and died about a week later. This week it tragic events showed me all the more how appropriate it would be for Twitter to play a roll.
I didn’t know Ashley Spencer, I didn’t know she even existed. But I suddenly saw an outpouring of grief as people found out about her sudden death in a car accident in Louisiana. Only 29, she leaves a young widower and she was the young mother a two year old boy and a two month old daughter. And what made her presence on Twitter special is that she Twittered her way through her pregnancy, telling her friends the good, the bad, and the ugly.
As a former “young parent”, I can tell you that there aren’t that many more beautiful times in one life when you still feel that youthful idealism and parental devotion at the same time. The sense of loving and giving and hope is other worldly. Now, Ashley has had that snatched form her as her family has her snatched from their existence. Their loss, while much greater, is our loss too.
To help, we now we have this site to help pay for the funeral and other expenses: http://ashpeamama.chipin.com/ashley-spencers-family
That’s great, but consider this…
Twitter has about 750,000 members. I have no idea how many are active. But the sad reality is that each and every day, there are going to be people - people that have made connections and friends - that die. And die suddenly. People like Ashley.
I would think that it would be a significant “give back” Twitter if could offer its members a series of tools that allow for the building of a dedication page(s). One that could give a short explanation of why someone passed so distraught friends could know what happened. One that could have a tool for donating to a charity or some sort of fund if need be (right now people are pitching in to pay for Ashley’s funeral), and one where we can leave testimonials. Because we witness the closeness and bonding of relationship building everyday. And we can’t necessarily leave or send cards to someone when we have no idea whom to send something to.
I’m suggesting a tool by Twitter because it gives Twitter friends easy access. I’d say every network may want to offer something like this.
Perhaps the dedication page could be an extension of their Twitter home page. I don’t know.
I know the term ’social graph’ is now a new techno-social buzzword that many of us might come to roll our eyes at, but I see something like this as an extension of that.
Again, I say this because I’ve been active on Twitter since September or October. In that time I know of two people who have passed before their time. I say this because death is part of life. I say this because I believe the relationships we make in social media are very deep and fulfilling.
And I’m also reaching out to all to see how or if we can get something rolling towards Twitter…
Filed under: Abraham Harrison LLC, Social Graphs, Social Meda, Social Network Services, Social Networking, Social Networks, Twitter, Twittergram
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Moving post and moving thought. I think we’d be more apt to see this come from a 3rd party though than twitter. Sadly, twitter doesn’t seem too responsive to the users that are its lifeblood. Maybe the folks at twittertale or politweets can get it done.
Of all the things Twitter can or should do, I’d hate to see Twitter spend valuable dev cycles on a product enhancement like that at a time when the service is growing exponentially and is focused intensely on keeping pace with that growth.
With all due respect to the friends of Ashley and Marc, creating a built-in memorial page function is an edge use case. Instead, this would be a good opportunity for some of the Twitter satellite companies to step up to the plate.
Sprezzatura
Fair enough. I don’t know enough about the satellite companies. But whomever creates what, I’m sure it would need some sort of accommodation from Twitter. And whatever tools are used, it would be a member of the community who would put the dedication page together.
I’d just rather have a central source via the Twitter ‘neighborhood so to speak play the role. It could then notify a deceased individual’s followers and friends on what’s going on.
I’ve only been on Twitter about one month. In that time, it has impressed me greatly with it’s potential for building relationships in such a simple way. The satellites will ultimately build more complex apps with Twitter as a backbone.
I didn’t know Ashley or Marc but, John Donne:
No man is an island… Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
I think this is a great idea. A real community thrives on unity. I have server space and bandwidth, and modest coding skills. I’d be happy to help in any effort toward this end.
Great post! It is good to see someone helping out. I love the idea of a dedication page.
I was just reading and thinking about this - there is an article in this months Walrus Magazine.
I’m a huge twitter fan and I agree, this is a something that I feel needs to and will be developed in unimaginable ways in the future.
The Big Log Off
http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2008.03-technology-memorial-online/