Inside “PGM” Facebook groups, the largest of which has 160,000+ members, where Brazilians collect, share, and memorialize the accounts of the recently deceased
Long before the Covid-19 pandemic, Brazilian Facebook users were gathering to memorialize total strangers. Tweets: @garrytan , @decka227 , @cengizyar , @renske_visser , @restofworld , @j_fuller , @restofworld , @pribellini , @iethics , @lmatsakis , @iethics , @restofworld , and @telliotter Tweets: Garry Tan / @garrytan : Reminder that most new culture in the world is increasingly Internet culture https://restofworld.org/... Andrew Deck / @decka227 : In Brazilian Facebook groups, hundreds of thousands of members have been sharing the accounts of deceased users. @pribellini and I profile these groups, called Profiles de Gente Morta (or Profiles of Dead People), for @restofworld. https://restofworld.org/... Cengiz / @cengizyar : Eventually, Facebook may host more profiles of dead people than of people who are alive. In Brazil, users have been building social media obituary groups to memorialize those already lost. @pribellini & @decka227 report for @restofworld. https://restofworld.org/... Dr Renske Visser / @renske_visser : Facebook's underground obituary pages - Interesting piece including insight from my wonderful friend Andreia https://restofworld.org/... via @restofworld @restofworld : Some see sharing the Facebook profiles of dead people as macabre or creepy. But for others, it's a new kind of public mourning and a way to deal with grief https://restofworld.org/... Jaime Fuller / @j_fuller : “a death studies researcher at the University of Bath found that more than a third of the people in Werle's group had watched at least one virtual velório for someone they didn't know.” https://restofworld.org/... @restofworld : “Whenever I find out that someone died, I think, ‘Oh God, I have to post the profile for everyone to see it.’” https://restofworld.org/... Priscila Bellini / @pribellini : Many of us had to grieve the loss of loved ones from a distance amid the pandemic. But long before Covid, thousands of Brazilians were developing a way to mourn the deaths of strangers together. @decka227 and I profiled these groups for @restofworld https://restofworld.org/... @iethics : Group moderators “are responsible for approving all profiles submitted by other members... Each group has a slightly different culture, which is reflected in their policies”: https://restofworld.org/... #ethics #internet #socialmedia #contentmoderation Louise Matsakis / @lmatsakis : This is one of my favorite stories I've ever edited! @decka227 @pribellini profiled the Brazilian Facebook groups where people share profiles of dead users https://restofworld.org/... @iethics : “Each profile link shared in PGM groups is a portal into the life of a total stranger: how they looked in photos, what political views they held, who they were friends with, and who tagged them in posts”: https://restofworld.org/... #ethics #internet #privacy #socialmedia #mourning @restofworld : Eventually, Facebook may host more profiles of dead people than of people who are alive. In Brazil, users have been building social media obituary groups to memorialize those already lost by @pribellini and @decka227 https://restofworld.org/... Tori Elliott / @telliotter : We are all struggling how to process grief in the Covid world—@decka227 and @pribellini take a look at how Facebook users in Brazil are using the platform to mourn and support each other through deaths old and new. @restofworld https://restofworld.org/...