One Profile, Many Memories: Projecting Memorials for Instagram via Participatory Design

摘要

As the popularity of social networks continue to increase, numerous profiles created daily tend to evolve as software. As they represent people in the online environment, these profiles are digital assets that, after their user's death, represent a digital legacy, even if it only represents emotional value. In some social networks, these legacies become digital memorials. Currently, on the social network Instagram, there is no difference between an active account and an account that has become a memorial, thus is a source of confusion to anyone who visits these profiles. Instagram moreover does not provide options for users to configure their future memorials, which can affect aspects of a person's identity after his or her death. A problem therefore emerges: how to maintain the aspects of identity, volition and privacy from the moment of the configuration of a memorial until its creation/transformation. In view of the above, this research has the means to raise questions and propose solutions for an Instagram digital memorial, while maintaining the three aspects. From a methodological point of view, this qualitative exploratory research was based on bibliographic reviews, observation on the web, and a survey and participatory design involving the participation of a focus group. The result includes a set of requirements and interface prototypes that are focused on digital memorials and useful for system developers.