Yesterday, there was a moment of silence for the second anniversary of a former co-worker’s death.
He was a cameraman, tragically shot while covering something. He was in his early 40′s, and left a wife and two young daughters.
Everyone stood up at their desks and bowed their heads for what was supposed to be a minute but was actually several. For a whole huge newsroom to come to a halt in the middle of the day like that — that’s really something.
But another anniversary is coming up in a few weeks: his birthday. And for the third time since he was killed, I am going to get a Facebook reminder of how old he would have been.
I could just un-friend him, but that seems wrong. And it’s also possibly his widow maintains the page, and I wouldn’t want to do anything that might give the appearance of disrespecting his memory.
I hate to get those reminders, though.
I can’t possibly be the first person in this situation. Does anyone else out there have any suggestions?
If not, I will just get the reminder, feel sad, and deal with it.
The younger folk at work say you should just unfriend him. It is done much more commonly now. Everyone seemed to think some decent interval, say a month, was good.
Steve
Facebook has a protocol for reporting the death of its users, after which it can turn the page into a memorial page and the page stays, but the reminders about birthdays go away. See this section of the Facebook FAQ for an explanation: https://www.facebook.com/help/?page=185698814812082