Over my dead modem : death memorialization and technology in 21st century United States

摘要

This research studies the respect for the dead in relation to technological aspects ofmemorialization. The focus is on the attitudes prevalent in southern Michigan, using data frominterviews and surveys of funeral directors and memorial webpage participants. This data helpsdetermine how some aspects of respect for the dead have changed in 21st century MidwesternAmerica. Consideration is given to the attitudes of funeral industry representatives in terms of bothphysical and virtual memorialization of the dead as well as the opinions of members of memorialwebpages contained on the social networking site, Facebook. How respect has changed is evaluatedusing individual opinions and their attitudes toward memorialization technology. New memorialtechnology has created new rules and perspectives towards the dead, which are shared by bothfuneral directors and memorial participants. The newly transitioned perceptions of respect aresupported by a variety of platforms encouraging deeper public thinking and engagement towards thetreatment of the deceased.