Facebook notifies family of death - before police

[Franklin]

I guess this is just another example of the emerging generation that posts every detail of their lives willy nilly without any regard for the impact of their statements. I just don't hold out any hope that responsibility and reflection will ever be of any importance to this "instant message generation".... for whom it is far more desirable to act than think.

Technology seems to be changing our lifestyle by the hour.

My point, exactly. It isn't like things like this don't happen once in a while, but the ways people can find out are becoming more and more impersonal.
There's something so cold and generic about expressing condolences on Facebook in the first place. I guess it's a question of taste, really. If the family had found out first through a friend calling to say how sorry he was, it still would've been a great shock, but at least there would have been a human element involved.
I also agree that the ability to convey almost instant information has degraded the ability of some to be thoughtful about the appropriateness of what they are saying or doing -- and how they are saying or doing it. "Prudence" is a word that will soon be leaving our dictionary.

 

[spinnerlys]

....

Or, they didn't give the police a reasonable amount of time to make an official notification (six hours is a long time, though), then that's not good, either.
...

When my mother and me were in a car accident in 1995, it took the police more than six hours to inform my brother of that accident, closer to eight.
When they phoned him, they even said to count on deaths, but they didn't confirm anything. He had to call the police back to get a confirmation, that my mother has died within half an hour of the accident and that I was brought to a hospital.

I don't know about the average length of time to notify relatives, but I think it might be common for some police stations to take their time.
With our accident it should not have been a problem of identification, as we had our IDs with us and my brother worked from home I think.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ That's terrible. I'm sorry to hear it. My condolences.

 

[John Picard]

I personally didn't ever think that anyone has a reasonable shot at a case against FB for emotional distress... but I don't know that much about how legal cases are handled with that intangible element of emotional damage and the like. Obviously to a family with a loss, that would be the least of their concerns at a time like this. Plus I'm sure FB's lawyers covered this in the fine print agreement when you sign up.

I try to keep well informed about the news, world news in particular. So I'm really surprised that this has happened so many times before, and to many of the posters on the board. My sympathies for all of you that have had to receive news in this way... mostly because it comes with it the need for more official confirmation. "Is it true?" "Did this really happen?" "Why did I have to read about this online?"

I guess this is just another example of the emerging generation that posts every detail of their lives willy nilly without any regard for the impact of their statements. I just don't hold out any hope that responsibility and reflection will ever be of any importance to this "instant message generation".... for whom it is far more desirable to act than think.

Technology seems to be changing our lifestyle by the hour.

I think you're just reading more into this than is actually there.

Let's go back to the 1800's, when Mrs John Smith is consoled by friends regarding the death of her husband in battle. She was shocked they knew, but it appears they received a telegram from a mutual friend. Two days later, a telegram, from the War Department, arrives notifying her that her husband has been killed

 

[ALF]

^ Okay, but that would still bring with it an element of humanity, rather than cold text on a screen.

 

[John Picard]

^ Okay, but that would still bring with it an element of humanity, rather than cold text on a screen.

Um, OK. I think you're being too melodramatic and making a mounting out of two grains of sand.

 

[ALF]

Um, OK. I think you're being too melodramatic and making a mounting out of two grains of sand.

Well, maybe. Anything's possible.

 

[Pingfah]

It's more like making a small hill out of a bucket of sand IMO. Maybe 2 buckets, or a very small hill.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

....

Or, they didn't give the police a reasonable amount of time to make an official notification (six hours is a long time, though), then that's not good, either.
...

When my mother and me were in a car accident in 1995, it took the police more than six hours to inform my brother of that accident, closer to eight.
When they phoned him, they even said to count on deaths, but they didn't confirm anything. He had to call the police back to get a confirmation, that my mother has died within half an hour of the accident and that I was brought to a hospital.

I don't know about the average length of time to notify relatives, but I think it might be common for some police stations to take their time.
With our accident it should not have been a problem of identification, as we had our IDs with us and my brother worked from home I think.

I am so sorry!