ATS Obituary section... thoughts?

Pardon any apparent morbidity... that is not the intent with this post.

I have once again had to experience a death in the family. It is seemingly becomimg a skill of mine to have to endure all that comes along with the death of someone close... yet like other skills that get easier with repetition... each time it comes... it's as if it is my first time experiencing a loss.

That said, I have become fond of the obituaries for those important people in my life that have passed. I occasionally go back and read them and it is a comfort and typically allows for a moment of remembrance of all sorts of memories with that person.

In my time here on ATS I have seen several threads started with the likes of "RIP to ATS Member...". The way I see it, we are a community, if one of our community members passes away, unless the member has someone in their real lives (other staff/member or otherwise) that knew how passionate they were, and how much they related to those in this community, then the chance ATS is notified is likely very slim.

I have been a member of this site for several years, made some great e-friends, if I died tomorrow... none of you would probably ever know... but would you want to?

I wonder how many active members are actually deceased as opposed to just regular inactivity that slipped away from our community?

I realize the majority likely don't tell many people (if at all) that they are an active community/forum member of an Alternative News/Conspiracy website. I on the other hand wear this on my sleeve.

I now plan to put instructions on how to post a thread of my passing to the BTS Members forum in the event of my untimely death.

My reason is simple... if it were one of you, I'd want to know.

One idea... if family members etc. could easily send notification to staff of a member's passing. ATS Staff could then place the notification (anything the family/loved ones wrote to be placed in the OP) along with an ATS condolence...maybe a list of the deceased members top 5 most popular threads, or a link to their posts on their profile...

I don't know... this may be an absolute horrible idea... but personally I'd like to be made aware, and it'd be nice to have a place to go to relive various ATS memories with the members of our community who have passed

a reply to: UberL33t
You won't know when I die.
I prefer to remain anonymous.

I think this is a great idea, maybe tweak it a bit more but I personally like where your going with this...

What about members pets ? I would hope they would be welcome to post about their pets dying too? .....

Popularity contest threads in life, why not in death, too?

Death as a personal tragedy is a bummer, but I guarantee that outside our little enclave of family and friends, the wider world does not skip a beat.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

An ATS cyber "wake"


perfect....

I lost another close family member this a.m. Won't be around for awhile ... so don't write me off just yet.

a reply to: intrptr

But this would be for our little enclave... outside... does what it wants.

I don't consider the obituary section in the newspaper to be a popularity contest, and I don't think this would either.

a reply to: UberL33t

But this would be for our little enclave…

Are we talking the three hundred plus thousand member ship or some fractional clique?

Judging by the "favorite member" thread yesterday, it would also be 'cliquish'.

Lets be the first website to have an obituary column?

a reply to: intrptr

Lets be the first website to have an obituary column?

Yes, what would be any different than a 300,000+ populated city and the obituaries that run each day?

originally posted by: UberL33t
a reply to: intrptr

Lets be the first website to have an obituary column?

Yes, what would be any different than a 300,000+ populated city and the obituaries that run each day?

But I don't read those either.

I have a drivers license because I have to. But I don't feel an overwhelming sense of belonging with a larger community while driving a car. I don't honk and wave to other drivers, like hi, isn't this communal?

In the last ten years several of my neighbors who were friends have passed on, the wake and funeral I didn't attend, the houses sold, the new neighbors haven't a clue who and what they were or did. Nobody cares… whole sagas, evaporated.

life goes on.

How about a forum for banned members?

slowly backs away

a reply to: UberL33t

I thought of something similar a while back. . .

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: intrptr

But I don't read those either.

Nor would you need to these.

I think that it might be a good idea to have an obituary section. I suppose people would be faking their own death though.

After all, it is a conspiracy site, I have the right to think of conspiracies.

a reply to: UberL33t
What ruins it for me is when you stumble upon these dusty obituaries and tribute pages years down the line. They turn into a depressing hole where the dead person has been lost.


I see your point. And I believe we approach death wrong in our culture.

originally posted by: rickymouse
I think that it might be a good idea to have an obituary section. I suppose people would be faking their own death though.

After all, it is a conspiracy site, I have the right to think of conspiracies.

Didn't think of that angle. How sad to fake ones own death... just see if anyone gave a damn. For this reason, it might be a bad idea.
The good reason to have one would be to know if a member is okay or not. I've thought of this before, when a member stops posting and doesn't respond to a pm, how do we know if they are alive and well or passed on?

a reply to: UberL33t

I like this idea.

I think it's a very sensible thing to do, as it honour ATSers who passed away.

It would also help other ATSers avoid waiting in vain for replies from a member who isn't anymore.

originally posted by: rickymouse
I think that it might be a good idea to have an obituary section. I suppose people would be faking their own death though.

If some members were tempted to fake death to get attention, it'd be kind of pointless since they couldn't use ATS anymore lest they would reveal that they lied.

a reply to: rickymouse

I am sure staff could put several checks in place to confirm a member's death. Like perhaps it sits in a MOD forum until it can be confirmed.

a reply to: UberL33t
In effect, we've got one already in the form of individual threads, as you've noticed.
I don't see much scope for improving on that. These reports can only happen when people who have the relevant knowledge choose to share it, which is part of the reason why we don't see them very often.
The most that could be done is to gather them together into a separate forum, but they are so infrequent that it seems reasonable to keep them in Members, which is where they tend to appear now.