Brubaker Successfully Defends Dissertation
Congratulations to Jed Brubaker for successfully defending his dissertation titled: “Death, Identity, and the Social Network” Committee: Gillian R. Hayes (Chair), Paul Dourish, Geoffrey C. Bowker, Melissa Mazmanian Abstract: What happens to our accounts, data, and digital identities after we die? Over 550,000 US Facebook users will die in 2015, but their deaths will not necessarily result in the […]
Managing Online Identities for the Deceased
The death of a loved one can be a challenging time for survivors who are left to manage the deceased’s affairs. In many cases, our increasing amount of online data is exacerbating this issue. Our social media lives create vast quantities of personal data that remain after we die. However, these data are not like other assets that we include in wills or testaments. They are connected to a large number of friends who survive us, all with diverse needs.