Here's a thought-provoking, if not a bit chilling, article, If you died, would your online friends know?, from Esther Schindler, who writes for, among other places, CIO magazine (Nov 14, 2007, issue). Her friend died and she didn't find out until nearly a year later. Why? Because nowadays few of us keep a hardcopy address book anymore and in our paranoia most don't even allow anyone else to have the password to our computers. Think about this:
For the last 25 years, I have lived in TCP/IP packets more than I do in the real world. I do have personal connections; I'm involved in community activities, and I have warm-blooded friends who would notice if I quit breathing. Those people have my phone number and physical address... but my virtual correspondents do not. If I disappeared from one of those online communities, would they notice?
I knew Elliot for 15 years. He showed up at every user group meeting of the Phoenx OS/2 Society, he participated in its discussion forum, he always wanted to help. Elliot died during an open heart operation. Now, a year later, his mom wants to invite people to the unveiling ... and she has no idea how to reach his friends. Elliot's computer was, of course, password protected, and she didn't know where he stored his contact information. He didn't have a "regular" address book. So she spent hours on switchboard.com and other services trying to find addresses for people. I got a plaintive phone call last night, asking if I was Esther and I used to know someone named Elliot...?
