

Can we please lay off the social-networking-as-grief-counseling thing? - dreambird
http://thefastertimes.com/afterthoughts/2009/12/21/brittany-murphy-eulogized-in-140-characters-or-less/

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mechanical_fish
_You wouldn’t post an R.I.P. status update if someone you knew personally
passed away, would you?_

And exactly how are people supposed to express their sorrow at the death of
someone they know or respect? Telepathy?

Obituaries are a very old art form. If you're uncomfortable with the fact that
they have switched media, that's your problem.

And I just love the class of person who goes out into the world, hunting high
and low for something to be offended by. Nobody spammed this guy: He followed
people on social networks and Google, and then got pissed off at what they
said. If you don't like what your friends send to you, _perhaps you need
different friends_.

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alex_c
_Why is this okay? You wouldn’t post an R.I.P. status update if someone you
knew personally passed away, would you?_

 _The family of an acquaintance of mine recently went through a difficult
time. They chose, wisely, to keep their suffering private, relying on a few
close relations to help them get through this rough patch._

The privacy rules for celebrities are already wildly different than for
"normal" people. Whether celebrities are entitled to more privacy than they
receive is a different argument, but why would a celebrity's death be a
special case? If they live in the public eye, it comes as no surprise that
they also die in the public eye.

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AndrewDucker
Oh for goodness sake.

Let people express their emotions how they want to. It's not for anyone to
tell someone else that their emotions aren't real, that their expression isn't
real or that they shouldn't be allowed to communicate publically about it.

The guy comes across as a jerk, to be honest.

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msie
I think what's worse than expressing grief over a celebrity's death via social
networking is damning it from your blog and in so many more words.

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ShabbyDoo
I fail to see how the cited article is any different in spirit than a
traditional obit. Hasn't it been common to quote people who knew the dead
person? And, don't those people usually share a memory or some thought about
why the dead person was important?

