OP-ED COLUMN
By Stingray
As I was evaluating my life insurance plan last year, my agent told me there are two kinds of people in this world: 1) Those who bet they are going to die, and 2) Those who bet they’re going to live.
I’m personally from the “going to die” side of the aisle, bought term life insurance and have a living will in my basement safe. But what I don’t have put together are my funeral arrangements and perhaps more importantly, how I would like those arrangements to be publicized so my friends, family and colleagues will know of my untimely expiration.
Unless your loved one (me, in this case) was famous or well loved in the greater community, an obituary explaining the texture and significance achievements of my life won’t be published in your local newspaper and/or the famous New York Times obit section. Traditionally, your local funeral home can help coordinate a paid death notice in the local newspaper, and you may place another in the decedent’s hometown paper to reach old friends.
So what’s the cost-benefit analysis of this tradition?
An example: the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Obituary Section costs $9.95 per line (per day), with 30-35 characters per line and can include Full name, Age, City, Date of death, Preceded in death by, Survived by, Visitation information (day, time, location), Service information (day, time, location), Interment, Memorial preferences (if any), City of the deceased.
I estimate placing my death in the Star Tribune (without a photo) would cost about $140 for one day — before taxes, because there are only two things certain in life, and taxes is one of them.
My traditional newspaper death notice wouldn’t list anything about my personality, any photos more than a possible headshot, no links to my blogs, etc. – and it would be printed once. I sure hope all my old friends happened to read the Obit section of that specific newspaper on that particular day. From what I can tell, after about 30 days at StarTribune.com, any record of my passing would be gone for eternity.
It’s time for a change – a milestone moment – in how we approach the business of what I’m calling “death news.”
There’s no question Craigslist revolutionized the way consumers interact with traditional classified ads. First off, they’re free to place and live online forever. You have unlimited text, and the opportunity to post multiple photos. The Craiglist model has annihilated traditional classified newspaper revenues, and in my opinion, greatly enhanced the utility to both sellers and buyers.
Tributes.com hopes to create “one centralized national web destination that obituary and service information are easily accessible and that there is a place for people of all ages to come together through online community to remember and to share the rich stories of the important people in their lives that have passed away.”
A spin-off subsidiary of Eons (what I lovingly call “MySpace for Baby Boomers”), Tributes allows you to create free, personalized online memorial tributes for the deceased – including photos, 1000 characters of text, links to other Web sites, a memory journal for others to leave their memories and more. The site also features national Tributes – like Charlton Heston’s – which mirror traditional obituaries.
For a small fee, the Tributes page for your loved one can live on past its free three years and include functionality for visitors to e-mail family and friends, order flowers and make a donation. Future functionality could include personalized e-mail notifications covering your home town, college graduation year and maybe even a special “If they die” past friends list. Heck, maybe you’ll be able to embed an “If I Die” YouTube video on your own page!?!
I don’t expect my great grandma to abstain from her precious printed papers as she adds up the death toll this month, but Baby Boomers, Generations X, Y and especially Millenials already live, work and play online. It only makes sense they would utilize social networking tools to keep track of loved ones who have passed on. It’s like a big social media period in an increasingly digital life.
As for me, you already know I’m betting I’m going to die, so I’m thrilled at the opportunity to use social media to live forever (or at least three more years for free).