{"id":930,"date":"2017-03-14T06:23:53","date_gmt":"2017-03-14T06:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/?p=930"},"modified":"2017-03-14T06:23:53","modified_gmt":"2017-03-14T06:23:53","slug":"the-problem-with-memorialization-on-websites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/2017\/03\/14\/the-problem-with-memorialization-on-websites\/","title":{"rendered":"The Problem With Memorialization on Websites"},"content":{"rendered":"

While reading the article \u201cGravesites and Websites: A Comparison of Memorialisation<\/a>,\u201d there was one quotation the particularly stuck with me. In discussing memorial websites, the authors state that \u201cthese sites are supportive of both the process of remembering someone as gone and being with someone as a continuing presence\u201d (40). While I agree that memorial sites can serve to remember someone who is gone, I took issue with the authors use of \u201cbeing with someone as a continuing presence\u201d (40).<\/p>\n

My first big issue with this statement is that a person\u2019s presence on memorial site is not a dynamic presence. When someone dies, everything that they have done up until that point becomes fixed\u2014there are no opportunities for a new or different presence. For example, think of new-Ash in \u201cBe Right Back.\u201d He was constructed from everything that the real Ash had ever posted online. He did not have the meanings or thoughts that the real Ash had, nor was he able to become a new person. And in my opinion, one of the fundamental aspects of humanity is our capacity for change.<\/p>\n

My other issue with saying that memorial sites serve to allow us to be with someone as a continued presence is that I feel that it does not encourage people to move on. Similar to how Martha was unable to move on from Ash\u2019s death once she found his online presence (something that seems to me like a futuristic memorial page), if others use memorial sites to be with their deceased loved ones, they will never be able to achieve closure over their loved one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Though<\/a> taking place in the future, Ash’s online persona is a sort of memorial page that prevents Martha from moving on from his death.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I do believe that memorial sites can be cathartic. They can serve as locations for people to leave a message to the deceased. However, if memorial sites are being used for someone to feel that their loved one is still with them, then the sites could become a problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While reading the article \u201cGravesites and Websites: A Comparison of Memorialisation,\u201d there was one quotation the particularly stuck with me. In discussing memorial websites, the authors state that \u201cthese sites are supportive of both the process of remembering someone as gone and being with someone as a continuing presence\u201d (40). While I agree that memorial … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Problem With Memorialization on Websites”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[29,28,115,116],"class_list":["post-930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ash","tag-be-right-back","tag-martha","tag-memorial-sites"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=930"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":942,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930\/revisions\/942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}