I recently learned of the sudden death of a beloved teacher via Facebook. I hadn’t seen her in 15 years, but the death was still tragic. After a few days I figured most people had already been made aware of the death by car accident. As somewhat of a tribute I decided to post an old photo of her on Facebook and make mention that she had passed suddenly. However I soon found that not everyone had heard of her passing. It was a shock to many of my friends and friends of friends.
I felt bad, after I had the same thing happening to me…that is finding out about the sudden death (read suicide) of a friend via Facebook about two years ago. Sometimes a hot news story trumps tactfulness. The media frenzy surrounding the Aurora movie theater shooting comes to mind.
Everyone knows how fickle Facebook is. From those barrages of baby photos, Someecards, and hidden viruses, there remains very little substance of value on Facebook. One does not simply announce to the world about the death of a friend via a Facebook posting. A phone call or private message will do. I posted the story not to sensationalize the tragedy, but more of a tribute. I regret that not everyone knew about it. I will try better in the future.