MySpace Mourning

About MySpace

MySpace is a free social networking Web site founded in 2003 and headquartered in California. It offers an interactive and user friendly network of pictures, blogs, forums, pictures, personal profiles, videos and music. The site is accessible internationally, and as of September 2007, more than 200 million accounts had been created. It's the world's sixth most popular English-written Web site and the third most popular site in the United States, as of October 2007.

MySpace is used to connect old friends, maintain current relationships and publicly display information such as concerts, reunions and memorials to loved ones who have died.

What is a MySpace Mourning Page?

A MySpace mourning page is a public memorial to someone who has died. The page or profile may have been on the Internet before the person died, and friends and family members are keeping the it active as a tribute. Pages can also be designed after a person's death to serve in the same manner. This type of journaling can be very healing for family and friends. Tribute pages or memorials can include:

• Name of person who died, as well as age and place of birth and death
• How the person died
• Times, dates and places of public memorials
• Where the person is buried
• Pictures and videos of the deceased person when he or she was alive
• The person's favorite music
• Likes and dislikes including movies, books and television shows
• Names and links to personal profiles of all of that person's MySpace friends
• Blogs written by person who started page -- whether it was deceased person before he or she died, or a friend or family member
• Messages about the tribute or the deceased person from other MySpace members

Examples of MySpace Tributes

With permission from the current page owners, here are a few MySpace mourning pages:

• Our Angel Babies: This was created by a grieving mother in New York as a means of not only memorializing her daughter, Jordyn Alyse who was stillborn in 2003, but also as a place for other families to share the loss of their children. More than 250 friends have been added to this page, many of whom have also had a child die.
• Katie Harris: This page was originally created by Katie Harris as her personal profile. However, after her accidental death on January 1, 2007 at the age of 20, her family turned it into a tribute, and included pictures and other living memories to it. There are currently 300 friends attached to this MySpace page.

There are also many public tributes made to a variety of deceased celebrities, including:

• Adrienne Shelly
• Anna Nicole Smith
• Chris Farley
• Aaron Spelling
• Kurt Cobain
• Elvis Presley
• John Lennon
• Marilyn Monroe
• Karen Carpenter

Word of Caution

Just because the person has died, that doesn't mean someone on the Internet won't steal his or her information posted on the MySpace mourning page. If you don't want everybody in the world to view this page, you do have the option of making it private. For your safety and that of your loved one who has died, do not include last names or other personal information.