1000Memories Keeps the Dead Living Through Social Media
Social media connects people like no other medium. Popular services are swelled to the point where they are bigger than some large countries.
One of the things you hear whispers about is when someone you know — a friend or family member, let's say — passes away. How do you deal with their loss via social media? If it's a spouse, what do you do with their Facebook page, for example?
This situation is still relatively unsettling to folks, and one website hopes to address those issues and make the memories last longer.
Recently, I sat down with Rudy Adler, the co-founder of 1000Memories, which recently launched through YCombinator.
TR: Tell me about the website.
Adler: 1000Memories is a new platform that brings family and friends together, after a loved one has passed away, to collaboratively tell the story of their life and start a project or foundation in their memory.
TR: Why was the site created?
Adler: As generations migrate to the social web, a growing issue - especially on Facebook - is the management of various stages of life and death online. At 1000Memories, we believe that the internet has the capability to commemorate a life once it has passed in a meaningful, collaborative way.
TR: Who else is behind the site other than you?
Adler: Our team consists of two Rhodes Scholars and former McKinsey & Co consultants, and an advertising guru from Wieden + Kennedy (best known for Nike and Old Spice ads).
TR: Is there any personal connection to the site?
Adler: We started the site after the passing of several of our own friends and family, and saw the need for a new platform with the right design and set of tools to connect people from a distance.
TR: How has the launch been going so far?
Adler: We already have 500 active websites and are consistently amazed with new ways that people are using our site. In fact, One Apple employee has been installing iPads in hospital chemotherapy rooms in honor of her brother and capturing those moments on the site.
What do you think about 1000Memories and the topic of social media and death?
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