Image of Williams/Bacall courtesy of www.newscred.com
Followers of TheMarioBlog already know that I am an avid obituary reader.
In fact, I have been one since I was in my teens, so the stereotype of “the older you get the more interested you get in reading obituaries” does not apply to me.
The best written obituaries—think The New York Times, Times of London and The Economist, among others—are like the epilogue of books we don't mind reading a second time. They put a life in perspective, reminding us of what was. They offer an overview that includes not just the highlights of a person's life and work, but also tidbits of information that we may have not known.
The week of August 11 was a especially busy time for obituary writers, with the shocking death by suicide of actor and comedian Robin Williams, as well as that of Lauren Bacall, the sultry and seductive actress of Hollywood's Golden Era, known as much for her enormous talent as for her marriage to Humphrey Bogart.
In both cases, fans and celebrities took to Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets, to render tribute to Williams and Bacall, two icons of American pop culture.
Writing about Robin Williams in The New York Times, Jonathan Mahler mentioned that “in the age of social media, everyone is an obituary writer.”
How true.
And I have an additional observation: the amateurs saying farewell to their idol, in this case Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall, are inventive enough to include highlight reels of the stars' work. Via Twitter and Facebook, I have seen Robin Williams doing standup comedy, as well as in his famous first scene as Mork, in an episode of the sitcom Happy Days.
A famous scene of Lauren Bacall seductively addressing Humphrey Bogart in the classic film To Have and Have Not has also appeared in various tributes to the actress.
The amateur obit writers are having a positive influence on mainstream media, for sure. In a sense, they are showing us what the potential is for more digitally friendly obits.
Usually, when we turn to the obituaries in established newspapers–even in their digital editions–we see still photos more often than video or audio clips. I always wondered why this is. Not that we are not interested in photos, but when I am reading an obituary on my tablet, I have higher expectations.
This time, however, and especially with Robin Williams, I have seen tremendous progress, including The New York Times, which included video clips of Williams in a career retrospective , as well as social media tributes. The same was true for Ms. Bacall, with videos clips from her films, some via YouTube.
It seems that we are getting some tips from those amateur obituary writers who pick a special moment or two from the work of the person they are paying tribute to and post it.
The obituary for the digital age is long overdue.
Trends of Interest
Consuming news, engaging with social networks in the same place
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/why-buzzfeed-is-expanding-off-site-with-new-distributed-division/s2/a557679/?utm_source=API%27s%20Need%20to%20Know%20newsletter&utm_campaign=24e53a1a0c-Need_to_Know_August_15_20148_15_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e3bf78af04-24e53a1a0c-31701869
Highlight
“We've noticed a trend, especially for young people, towards apps and sites and platforms that provide a social network and content all in one,” Summer Anne Burton, who will be heading BuzzFeed Distributed, told Journalism.co.uk. The move isn’t about directing traffic back to BuzzFeed though. “I think there's a good chance that in five to ten years the internet is going to look really different, just like it did five or ten years ago,” said Burton, “and one of those trends might be that people consume media within the places where they're also networking with their friends.” Burton also said that one of the reasons why BuzzFeed has been successful is that it does not count on what has worked in the past working again in the future.