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New analysis by academics from the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), part of the University of Oxford, predicts the dead may outnumber the living on Facebook within fifty years, a trend that will have grave implications for how we treat our digital heritage in the future.
The analysis predicts that, based on 2018 user levels, at least 1.4 billion members will die before 2100. In this scenario, the dead could outnumber the living by 2070. If the world's largest social network continues to expand at current rates, however, the number of deceased users could reach as high as 4.9 billion before the end of the century.
"These statistics give rise to new and difficult questions around who has the right to all this data, how should it be managed in the best interests of the families and friends of the deceased and its use by future historians to understand the past," said lead author Carl Öhman, a doctoral candidate at the OII.
"On a societal level, we have just begun asking these questions and we have a long way to go. The management of our digital remains will eventually affect everyone who uses social media, since all of us will one day pass away and leave our data behind. But the totality of the deceased user profiles also amounts to something larger than the sum of its parts. It is, or will at least become, part of our global digital heritage."
Co-author David Watson, also a DPhil student at the OII, explained: "Never before in history has such a vast archive of human behaviour and culture been assembled in one place. Controlling this archive will, in a sense, be to control our history. It is therefore important that we ensure that access to these historical data is not limited to a single for-profit firm. It is also important to make sure that future generations can use our digital heritage to understand their history."
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190427104813.htm
Carl J Öhman, David Watson. Are the dead taking over Facebook? A Big Data approach to the future of death online. Big Data & Society, 2019; 6 (1): 205395171984254 DOI: 10.1177/2053951719842540
(Score: 2, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:17AM (1 child)
What a groaner. What a groaner.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 08 2019, @03:07PM
Will the personal information about the dead be as valuable as that of the living? How much will advertisers pay to target the preferences of the dead? Will FB subsidize in-coffin screens? Is there anything FB will not do?
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by MostCynical on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:21AM (7 children)
unless there are people looking at the dead profiles, and therefore value to advertisers, facebook will eventually deal with them (archive or delete)
On a snarkier note, can anyone tell the difference in the quality of posts? Dead vs brain dead!
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Wednesday May 08 2019, @08:51AM (6 children)
Assuming Facebook doesn't die until then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday May 08 2019, @09:25AM (2 children)
these things take a long time to die..just look at Yahoo [yahoo.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday May 08 2019, @09:34AM (1 child)
Necrophilia is not my kink.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 08 2019, @03:09PM
Look at Yahoo safely behind hospital glass window. Or morgue window.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by SpockLogic on Wednesday May 08 2019, @12:10PM (2 children)
Most Face-ache active users are already brain dead so it's creationism in action. ;-)
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday May 08 2019, @12:25PM (1 child)
Tell it to PartTimeZombie, he'll maybe happy to hear about billions of no longer needed braaaiiiinz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 08 2019, @03:10PM
Um, let's please not try to increase the population of people voting for . . . oh, nevermind.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:26AM (5 children)
https://www.facebook.com/realstanlee/ [facebook.com]
https://twitter.com/TheRealStanLee [twitter.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:52AM (4 children)
What are you suggesting takyon? We apparently have the realDonaldTrump, don't we?
And none of us knows for certain what the 'afterlife' is like.... Perhaps when entering through the Pearly Gates you are given a golden iPad or iPhone with unlimited hours from the 'Holy Fibre'. Or maybe that is the other place.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Wednesday May 08 2019, @08:13AM (1 child)
So, does that mean if you end up in 'the hot place' you get an outdated Android with a perpetually low battery and spotty WIFI with a 1GB cap?
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Wednesday May 08 2019, @03:12PM
If you're in the hot place, you've clearly got a Samsung.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday May 08 2019, @08:56AM (1 child)
Ask Joe Chip [wikipedia.org]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday May 08 2019, @12:53PM
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:57AM (5 children)
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday May 08 2019, @09:06AM
yeah exactly. from the speed with which MySpace collapsed it is possible for these social media companies to die in 5 years.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @11:26AM
Mod up. Be more productive worrying about some space aliens nuking us from the orbit.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 08 2019, @03:13PM (1 child)
Look at Microsoft's longevity. IBM's longevity. AT&T's longevity. Oracle.
Now Facebook?
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @06:49PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:14PM
:) 50 years?
More like 5. The tumbleweeds of MySpace and GeoCities are already calling. Sheeple are slowly awakening and moving on.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @09:19AM
Ok, so fine, the twonks at the 'Oxford Internet Institute' (stop laughing at the back, there....) have come up with this BS as part of their ongoing mission to justify their existence..
They've done the numbers, and come to the remarkable conclusion that 'the dead may outnumber the living on Facebook within fifty years', amusingly missing the fact that the braindead already outnumber the 'living' on Facebook (where 'living' are the set of people who use it to do things like keep in touch with family members over long distances etc. etc. ), being unkind, this braindead metric was always 'baked in' as far as Facebook is concerned...
(Score: 2) by MrGuy on Wednesday May 08 2019, @12:26PM
https://what-if.xkcd.com/69/ [xkcd.com]
The XKCD piece came out more than 5 years ago, reaches similar date conclusions, and IMO is more thoughtful as a reflection of the societal questions.
The conclusions of this article (one day the dead will outnumber the living on Facebook) aren’t surprising. I guess I’m glad he’s put alit if math (supposedly) into refining the dates, but this isn’t new news.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Wednesday May 08 2019, @12:26PM
Dead social media sites (that will include Facebook) will outnumber the live ones long before 50 years' time, if they don't already.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 08 2019, @03:16PM (1 child)
In 50 years all forms of anti-social media are outlawed by our one party system.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 09 2019, @05:19AM
A one party system would not be necessary if those fools stopped voting for the wrong candidate.
Hillary will deserves her turn as president and will get it one way or another... Not even Bernie Sanders himself will be able to stop her.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @05:07PM
Bots don't die, they just get reformatted.
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Wednesday May 08 2019, @10:20PM
outnumber them now.
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