Our friend group has been maintaining this private Discord server for years and one of our members died in an accident six months ago, and we're all handling it differently - some people want to keep posting like normal, others want to preserve everything as a memorial, and a few have basically stopped participating entirely. The space that used to bring us together now feels complicated and we don't know how to move forward together.
More people experience this than they realize.
Digital spaces that anchor communities become sites of complicated collective mourning when members die, requiring groups to renegotiate shared rituals and meanings around virtual presence and absence.
“Where Are You with Digital legacy — your online presence after death?”
If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.