A Social Network For the Dead

Posted on July 27, 2007

Mashable reports that a social network called Respectance is a social network "dedicated to remembering those who have died." They have raised $1.5 million in venture capital financing.

Mashable says, "With the MySpace, Bebo and Facebook pages of the dead already becoming shrines of a type - with friends leaving comments for the deceased - it's an idea that may generate interest."

Mashable is correct that on many occasions social network pages on MySpace and other networks have become shrines after users have died. We blogged about this earlier in a post called Death and MySpace.

Maybe there is something here for seniors expecting to die but younger social network users aren't expecting to die soon and when they do it is usually a shock and a surprise. The younger users probably aren't likely to take the time to set up a page for when they have moved on. The senior demographic is very large so this is probably what helped Respectance rash so much cash. Respectance will face competition from existing online memorial websites like Legacy.com, FuneralNet, Memorials Online and Virtual Memorials. Eons, a social network targeting seniors, also has an Obits section.