Death Becomes Us

It’ s difficult to discern the intended tone of MyDeathSpace.com, a website that tracks the deaths of MySpace users. Claiming to be a tasteful portal to online remembrance, the site is a morbidly fascinating glimpse into the highly personal ways that (for the most part young) people are mourned. By posting newspaper articles, a picture, and a link to each individual’s MySpace profile, MyDeathSpace proves that, generally, people under 30 don’t die of natural causes. Instead, you’ll find car crashes, drug overdoses, shootings, and being trapped inside a massive helium balloon, along with suicide notes and bitter accusations posted as blog entries. The profiles of these individuals can be heart-wrenching, as friends post comments of bereavement, or, in cases of several murder-suicides, pure unadulterated hatred.