Journal article

Are the dead taking over Facebook? A Big Data approach to the future of death online

Abstract:: We project the future accumulation of profiles belonging to deceased Facebook users. Our analysis suggests that a minimum of 1.4 billion users will pass away before 2100 if Facebook ceases to attract new users as of 2018. If the network continues expanding at current rates, however, this number will exceed 4.9 billion. In both cases, a majority of the profiles will belong to non-Western users. In discussing our findings, we draw on the emerging scholarship on digital preservation and stress the challenges arising from curating the profiles of the deceased. We argue that an exclusively commercial approach to data preservation poses important ethical and political risks that demand urgent consideration. We call for a scalable, sustainable, and dignified curation model that incorporates the interests of multiple stakeholders.

Publication status:: Published

Peer review status:: Peer reviewed

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APA Style

Öhman, C., & Watson, D. (2019). Are the dead taking over Facebook? A Big Data approach to the future of death online. Big Data and Society, 6(1).

MLA Style

Öhman, C, and D Watson. “Are the Dead Taking over Facebook? A Big Data Approach to the Future of Death Online.” Big Data and Society, vol. 6, no. 1, 2019.

Chicago Style

Öhman, C, and D Watson. 2019. “Are the Dead Taking over Facebook? A Big Data Approach to the Future of Death Online.” Big Data and Society 6 (1).
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Files:: Are the dead taking over Facebook?.pdf

(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 1.3MB, Terms of use)

Publisher copy:: 10.1177/2053951719842540

Authors

+ Öhman, C More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: Social Sciences Division
Department:: Oxford Internet Institute
Role:: Author
ORCID:: 0000-0002-8887-5324

+ Watson, D More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: Social Sciences Division
Department:: Oxford Internet Institute
Oxford college:: Green Templeton College
Role:: Author
ORCID:: 0000-0001-9632-2159

Publisher:: SAGE Publications
Journal:: Big Data and Society More from this journal
Volume:: 6
Issue:: 1
Article number:: 205395171984254
Publication date:: 2019-04-23
Acceptance date:: 2019-01-01
DOI:: 10.1177/2053951719842540
EISSN:: 2053-9517

Language:: English
Keywords:: FFR
Pubs id:: pubs:999563
UUID:: uuid:7f8a03cd-ed2e-4bac-95e3-fa6dd85e79b2
Local pid:: pubs:999563
Source identifiers:: 999563
Deposit date:: 2019-05-20
ARK identifier:: ark:/29072/ora_7f8a03cded2e4bac95e3fa6dd85e79b2

Terms of use

Copyright holder:: Öhman and Watson
Copyright date:: 2019
Notes:: © The Author(s) 2019 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Licence:: CC Attribution (CC BY)

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