Can a Steam profile be a real memorial for a lost life?
Can a Steam profile be a real memorial for a lost life?
Reminds me of seeing how long it has been (a bit over 4 years) since a good friend of mine was last online in Steam. Died suddenly before christmas. RIP. :'(
A long time member of our community passed suddenly a little more than a year ago. Her father appended her steam name with "Rest in peace." He arranged for an online memorial for her online friends and encouraged everyone to DM good memories to her accounts. Her account's sat there in my friends list, offline, ever since. It was a great way to honor her, I think she'd have loved it.
I just had the unsettling realization that, over time, our friends lists will literally become virtual graveyards.
I've got a few of those. I'm planning to backup my friend's Twitter page and all our interactions since his account is private and I don't want to login ever again (after archiving)
I've got two friends that can't log in anymore. I feel your pain. It sucks a lot for sure. I enjoyed the article, thank you for posting.
One thing I wished they would have explored a little more was the psychological effects these memorial pages have on those left behind. Part of what helped me fully grieve and accept the loss was to eventually stop going to the pages. I guess in some way a false hope kinda starts taking root, at least it was that way for me
I have one friend on Steam who is incarcerated. My best friend that died is on my PlayStation friends, and Fortnite specifically. For the first year I used to log in to see how long it had been since he last played. As time went on I did that less and less. I still view his profile.
It's ok friend. Nothing wrong with it, it's our version of an older person holding on to a newspaper article about their loved one.
Thank goodness we knew them
Personally I think nobody gives a fuck about your profile while you're alive so why does it suddenly have significance when you're dead.
Grief is a horrible process that we all go through. Cultural norms are to simply ignore it, suppress it and pretend we've moved on.
The digital age preserves a far greater record of our lives than ever before. I don't think that's necessarily a good thing.
