Swan Song

If I died suddenly ( in say a scotch egg hold up shoot out or an out-of-the- blue bulldog sex frenzy accident ) who would actually " own "   the eight years worth of Going Gently?
Could my next of kin ask for access to it? would it be immortalised as it was like a book on a dusty library shelf or would blogger eventually deactivate the pages as Facebook has just done on an 18 year old cancer victim, much to the horror and upset of her mother who had password access to the
Account?
It's an interesting modern day conundrum
What happens to our on line lives when we die?
Facebook, pay pal, bank accounts, in the cloud photo albums, library music, blogger, emails,
Who " owns" it all when we shuffle off is mortal coil?

Years ago, I used to follow an Australian blogger called John, who used to blog about living in the Australian countryside. It was a bit like Going Gently but with wombats .Quite suddenly, his health deteriorated drastically to such an extent that it was clear to everyone that he wasn't going to blog in the following year. In actual fact John sadly died a few days later and one of his last posts he stated that his wife or daughter would write a few words on the blog if he was incapacitated to do so.
That never happened, and the blog remains there in the ether of the internet, hanging and sort of unfinished.
I sometimes pop over even now to see if anything had changed.

What would you want to happen to your blog after you die?
Delete?



86 comments:

  1. Very thought provoking John. In the early days I used to print off my posts but there are far too many to do that now. After I die I would like my blog to be out there in the ether and not be disposed of at the touch of a button. I think I would like a family member or a solicitor or a friend to write a last post for me explaining why I no longer write. Just think how fascinating all our blogs will be to future generations to see what we spoke of today. Ordinary folk expressing their views. It is quite upsetting to think that someone else could 'own' the rights to our words and pictures though. :-(

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    1. Simone.......i think, on reflection I think exactly the same as you

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  2. No. I would not want it deleted because it contains eight years of my family's life including pictures from the moments of my grandchildren's births. Forget all the shit about ME, I want that to be where the family can see it.

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    1. I have no kids to read mine...that makes me a little sad

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    2. I pray Ms Moon's blog is not deleted or that her children are printing it out as she writes it as it is an amazing blog that should be a book of its own. Yours too John.

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    1. I would miss you. X

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    2. Thanks Frances. John, I deleted in case I was misunderstood. What I said was in agreement with you. No delete, just there forever without end.

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  4. There was a very dear blogger over here in the states, "Granny" to all of her online friends and she had a very active, and wealth of information, gardening blog. She was doing great, developed cancer and passed within a few months. Her daughter now logs on every once in awhile to give family updates. But her daughter has password, etc. I believe in the case of blogs, at least with blogger, as long as someone has password access, I think they stay forever.

    Most sites now have ares on how to handle deaths. It is fascinating (in a morbid sort of way) to think about. That Facebook story is interesting...facebook actually has two options that you can request things to be done after a death. It's an online form request, you can either ask that it be deleted, and have to provide death certificates, etc. Or you can ask that it be left up as a memorial.

    Here in the states, there is a growing trend called "digital wills".

    Check out this website, it's got some GREAT information:

    http://www.techlicious.com/how-to/how-to-manage-your-online-accounts-after-you-die/

    Great topic!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the link...i'll read it when I am in a sweeting frame of mind thanks x

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  5. Since I have several blogs, I have several opinions on this one. The main blog, which is mostly for family and friends, I would want to be out there in cyberspace. Maybe little Dodds and Scharbachs of the next generation would find something of interest, just as I would have been fascinated to have run across a journal from my grandfather or -- much better -- great-grandfather or -mother. Of course, that is assuming that things formatted for our present technology will still be available to the future tykes in some meaningful way.

    Two other blogs are related to characters from my fiction, and just as I hope my books will still occasionally be read by someone after I am gone, maybe that person will be amused to discover the blogs supposedly penned by those characters.
    But if they were all deleted, it would be little loss to culture or civilization and no loss to me at all.

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    Replies
    1. Mike..... i wish I had kids....... It would be lovely to leave them something to chuckle at

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  6. Oh God, even more to add to my will! Good point though and thought provoking.

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  7. Anonymous6:30 pm

    I have no idea what will happen..the hubs is computer illiterate and the daughter couldn't care less....if you see nothing happening for a month or so assume the worst.

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    1. Deloras , we bloggers all need some sort of obituary

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  8. Well I hope you are not going to pop your blogs ( clogs) any time soon ! X

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  9. I would want Amanda to make a final farewell 'gardeny' post on my behalf. We have talked about it.

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    1. Gary, i have a fantasy that Chris would write something, but my sort of writing couldnt be any more different to his if it tried

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  10. I know that neither one of my adult children ever read my blog, so in the hope that someone might care someday I've made hard copy books. At the end of each year I pull out what seems with saving - complete with pictures - and create a Shutterfly book.

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    1. At least after you go, you can leave the kids your link

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  11. Blogs seem to just go into suspended animation. I have know a few bloggs that had multiple authors and some hope of continuing. FB is more complicated, a high school classmate of mine died a few months ago and his wife said, I will post funeral arrangements here tomorrow, and by the next day FB had locked her out. I have another classmate who died three years ago and I still get birthday reminders from FB every year. Personally I don't care what happens after I am gone, when I am done, I am done. I do this because I want to today.

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    1. You are right...gone is gone...........but isnt one reason why we all blog is that we hope our words are there for good!

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  12. I'm not sure my blog shouldn't be deleted now. Immediately.

    I know facebook has some sort of function wherein your acocunt can become a memorial account once you die.

    But I don't have facebook.

    I just have a blog that I fear is going to stand, after my death, as the only thing people remember about me.

    ((shiver))

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    Replies
    1. On reflection katy after the next generation get older, i suspect I too think that

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  13. I'd say leave it up, as a kind of memory of the person who passed.
    My sister's Facebook page is still active a year after her passing and I check in every so often to see if people are still "talking" to her.
    And they are.

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    1. You obviously get some comfort from that?

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  14. It is something that I have thought about. No idea what to do about it though.

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  15. So would you be heisting the Scotch eggs, or defending the deli case against the crooks? What would the opposing sides be shooting with? Water pistols, as I believe the real deal are illegal in Wales? Assuming water pistols, as slightly more effective than, say, sling shots, I hope you understand wet Scotch eggs wouldn't be the best. What were you talking about, again?

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  16. Google owns it of course, you twat.

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    Replies
    1. Didnt take you long to get back to normal

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    2. Why did i bleeding ask him to come back?

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  17. I will make sure that it is deleted, John. I have heard and seen abandoned blogs that were taken over by spammers.

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  18. I hope the spilt food tendency doesn't get any worse, or you'll end up like Father Jack....

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  19. I remember John, and I too check in occasionally.
    I think I would prefer it stayed, but have seen old blogs 'taken over'. No easy answers.

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  20. Many people have their blog published in book form for their families. I know a lady who does a year at a time.

    If I died suddenly I guess mine was just die, too.

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    Replies
    1. Oh dear..i think im depressing everyone

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    2. Yes, you are....

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    3. Thats how I feel today

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    4. Not so surprising. It's the back end of a long winter, you're coming down from the wedding.....we'll all feel better once Summer arrives :-)

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  21. I hadn't thought about that at all. I guess I naively thought that my blog would just hang around like some sort of virtual journal. Having thought about it now I think that blogs are an incredibly valuable form of social history; a cross between a diary and the Mass Observation journals. Wouldn't it be great if these insights into life now could be stored for future historians to use.

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    1. So many of them...........who would read eh?

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  22. I would like my blog to live on "forever", people in future could read it to learn about our quaint way of life in 2015, ha ha. But I imagine the blog server will deactivate it after a certain amount of time.

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  23. I only have Facebook. As to a blog I would like to think if I had one it would be left for another generation to see "great-grandma. I hope we never lose yours....

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    1. and on that note...I have followed several blogs that have had no entries for a couple of years and I always wonder did they die in a car accident? Were they ill? Or just lost interest? Someone should enter a parting word.

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    2. I agree linda ...a last postscript for everyone

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  24. This is indeed sad talk but a reality in the blogging world. Recently a very talented arty blogger died and I only realised after other bloggers mentioned it . The blog is still there but It is unfinished business and I understand why you keep popping over to Aussie Johns site.

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  25. I haven’t posted in quite a while, last time I checked most of this old duff is still ticking. I’m having more surgery on the 13th so if you don’t hear from me…..Damn this is depressing, your next post better be hilarious.

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    1. Fucking hell doc...........youve got to blog from theatre recovery just tolet us know youre alive

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  26. Anonymous9:50 pm

    I would try to write a last post and my partner would have my password to do so on my behalf if I couldn't. In 2007 I received an email from our national library asking if it could archive my blog, and they do so once a year. It is interesting to look back at the different templates I have used.Without doubt your blog is worthy of being archived and while I don't think it would be 'quite nice' for you to request it to be, someone should do so.

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    1. I think , thats the nicest thing you have said to me andrew thank you

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    2. Maybe we should start a petition for this to happen.
      x
      No clue about mine, am thinking of deleting certain posts....too much information re family!!!

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    3. Anonymous3:08 pm

      Dearest John Gray of Wales, false modesty does not become you. Nevertheless, watch and wait.

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  27. I don't care; once I'm dead it doesn't matter what happens to my blog.

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  28. A dear blog friend of mine passed away in 2011, his Facebook is still very active as his friends and family post comments on a daily basis, it has helped all of us deal with his sudden passing.

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    1. I guess you have given tbe best answer sondra x

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  29. I have my blog address and password written on my rolodex cards in the event I enter the Twilight Zone, or suddenly pop my clogs...
    My grandchildren said they would like to keep it around, just to give them a sense of my thoughts and pictures whilst I was on this planet.
    An interesting post John, one we've probably all thought about....what if.
    ~Jo

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  30. "It was a bit like Going Gently but with wombats"

    Eh.... Wombats like Winnie? A troubling thought.

    As for blogs, I printed the ones with significant words using the excellent Blog2print service, and also have em saved digitally, and now I just blog images well the images are stored; but things go wrong, libraries burn, remnants survive. None of it matters anyway, may I suggest. Just try to enjoy.

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  31. I haven't blogged since January. Nobody seems concerned about it. So I suppose it's a moot point for me.

    But a few years ago, in a frenzy of will-writing and suchlike, I did compile a list of all my online accounts and passwords, as well as banking accounts, etc. So Miss Chef would be free to carry on, or as is more likely, ignore the remnants of my online presence.

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    1. Alison, I WOULD have been concerned except I kept seeing you here!!!

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    2. Ha! Point taken.

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  32. You and your partner - will you consider having kids? Perhaps your family would want to keep it up?

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  33. From my experience it appears blogspot blogs just stick around while blogs on other services are likely to be taken over. I think Google sees them as a cheap long term investment.

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  34. It's hard to contemplate you not being around, John, but I would wonder if Chris wouldn't pitch hit for you? At least he could type in something to let us all know what has happened. We definitely need his word that he would notify us of your untimely passing (as members of your extended family so to speak).

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  35. I like Andrew's comment about your blog being archived by the national library John. That's a great idea. Some people do that in Australia too.

    I've thought before about the question you posed. I guess if I went out in a violent sex attack involving a bulldog like the one you described then there would be little time to write down my passwords. But if I had time, I'd probably do nothing either. Say goodbye, I guess.

    One of my mates who died in 2008 still has a presence on my own blog roll and it's good to go visit it sometimes. It's much better though, to have a private chat with Bob in my head. I ask him for advice often.
    His blog gets spammed a lot and no one is administering but they are only in the comments section. No biggie. Because I was executor for his estate, I got his email account linked to mine and spent the next six months or so giving various correspondents the bad news.

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  36. I don't blog, so I don't have much to add, but this is definitely a good question and there have been a lot of thoughtful answers. Something to think about.

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  37. I too occasionally visit JohnD's site to see if his daughter has fulfilled her promise..... Sadly she never has.

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  38. I don't have a blog, as you may have gathered John, I have often thought about it but really don't think I have much that other people would be interested in, and I am not passionate about anything in particular... I am more of a Jack (Jill) of all trades master of none type of person. I become very obsessed about a particular thing (at the moment cooking) and then suddenly for no apparent reason that's out the door and something else comes in. I am far too flaky I think, but I am interested in leaving something for the next generation to get some sense of who I was. I think it is because I emigrated to NZ in 1985 and had two children who haven't really met their UK relations and trying to get information about my relatives is very difficult, my father is an only child and doesn't know very much about his family and I would like my children to have a sense of identity with family in the UK. Sorry this is a very long post. But if I did have a blog I think I would like it left in situ so that future generations of us might one day "happen" upon it and go.... "see that's why I'm so obsessive, it's all Great, Great, Great Aunty Jo's fault"!

    Jo in Auckland,NZ

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  39. I don't care what happens to my blog when I pop my clogs John but, as I have told you many times, I would like to see your blog bound as a book and sitting on my bookshelf so that I could pick it up at any time and have a good laugh.

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  40. linger for someone to stumble across for me. I have lost several Blogs when the writer suddenly stopped writing with no explanation. It does make me wonder what happened with sadness.

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  41. On a forum that I belong to, we had a Montage of photographs of all the members, taken many years ago. The Montage was constructed by a former member who has since died (as have several of the members whose photographs were present). Suddenly is is no longer accessible and we realise that no-one has a copy. The reason is has now passed out of our reach is that the host company has gone out of business. I guess it's still 'somewhere' but forever out of reach. :(

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  42. "...or an out-of-the- blue bulldog sex frenzy accident ..."

    It would hardly be out of the blue. There has been plenty of warning. You take care now (and make a will).

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  43. I hadn't even considered the possibility that my blogs might self destruct ( unless of course the Internet itself went belly up!) Husband bit of a Luddite; he couldn't even log in unfortunately.

    As both myself and our son are medical time bombs I'd rather hoped my past memories would at least survive our death.

    You do wonder about blogs which suddenly cease. Last year I found a link to a wonderful blog post and decided to read from the beginning in 2006. To my horror both her and her husband's health declined rapidly last year and suddenly I found myself reading posts written under the influence of very strong medication - then a funeral address notice!

    Gosh... Must do something cheery now!

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  44. I've thought about this, too, but not many people read my blog, and I don't write on it every day, so I don't suppose it would mean much if it weren't accessible after I left the planet. Like you, however, i'd want some closure and would appreciate someone explaining that I had died, although I doubt Himself would want to bother with that task.

    A friend and I were talking of this recently, as we are both the youngest in our families, and neither of us is considered young anymore. What to do with all the stuff, and what bits should we think of passing along. I certainly wouldn't want to leave a mess for someone else to deal with when I go.

    I should like to be able to read your blog forever, though.

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  45. I would leave my password and instructions on how to Blog to Lovely Hubby in my Will. That way you will all be informed by him of my no doubt eventful passing. Sliding down the mud bank in Chicken World or being eaten by a hungry boar, or much more relevant at the moment ... melting into a puddle of 'once was human' now lard in the polytunnel ... we reached the highs of 38 degrees yesterday. Once all clothes that could be removed so close to the road had been removed and still I was overheating, I had to call it a day and retire in a red faced heap to the house.

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  46. I wouldn't mind if it just sat there, I don't think. Not sure I'd want anyone else to add anything, even if I had died. Mmm... I will be pondering this.

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  47. I would be very happy for my blog to stay put so that anyone who was interested could find out all about me - that is, if they're really interested in my 101 neuroses, fears, insecurities and obsessions. And of course it would be full of memories and experiences that Jenny could look back on.

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  48. I considered deleting my blog very recently, but I'm not sure... Still, I doubt anyone would want to read about my boring life in the years to come.

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  49. Very thought-provoking post, John. No-one here in South Africa would give a damn if my blog died with me. However, I think there are several blogger friends who'd care!

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  50. My understanding is that everything in blogger is forever. I looked into it once, because someone with an abandoned blog had a blogname we wanted, and the Blogger Help made it very clear that it was tough bikkies. Unless someone withe real access chooses to take it all down, it is there forever, in perpetuity. May this never be an issue with going gently xoxo

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