Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Facebook Obit

In what has been an emotionally fraught afternoon, I'm so thankful for a happy ending. For those unfamiliar with The Facebook's social networking capability, there is a "status" line that people can comment about their day, make a witty remark or describe their mood.

This afternoon, I noticed that a friend's status line said she died in a car crash yesterday. ???? After scouring on-line newspapers, obituaries and funeral home sites for more info, and not finding anything, I didn't know what to think. It's a rather morbid and abrupt method of communicating bad news, albeit an effective one. I had shed some tears at the possibility of a bereaved young family, a promising career now lost and a dear friend gone.

Turns out everyone is OK; it was an inexplicable hoax that will cause her to leave The Facebook and understandably so. There were some further tears (of relief) and a renewed conviction to be more in-touch with those who are important to me.

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