Online Memorial Services: After a Death, Celebrating a Life Online
New York, NY (PRWEB) February 01, 2014 -- The question was recently raised by The Wall Street Journal, “When Loved Ones Die, Why Is It So Hard to Memorialize Their Lives Online?” (January 29, 2014), Sanctri is a new app for Facebook whose mission is to make that process easier for the friends and families of the 4 million plus Facebook users who will die in the next year.
It’s a place on Facebook to build “Sanctuaries” for those we’ve lost. Through the sharing of photos, videos, stories and thoughts, users collaborate in painting a picture of a life that was. Minus the awkwardness of posting to a frozen page.
Sanctri’s contributions are free flowing. They consist simply of whatever the user chooses to post. Their words. Their photos. Their memories. All of this is displayed in a traditional feed, and also in Sanctri’s unique feature called the Lifebook. Consider it an “electronic scrapbook” that organizes all of the posts into chronological life chapters. (Early years, young adulthood, etc). The Lifebook is simply the stories, images, videos and songs posted by those remembering the person without clutter from user avatars, comments or icons. It scrolls like an e book. In an age where iPads have replaced paperbacks and albums, imagine sitting with your child showing them the life of a grandparent they never got to know.
Sanctri’s interface involves no clip art or images of benches under trees. It was designed to be sensitive, not sad. The depressing aesthetic of a Hallmark sympathy card is the antithesis of Sanctri. And when it comes to music, unlike the limited selections in a music card, Sanctri’s integration with Spotify lets friends and family share the music the deceased loved, whatever that might have been. So if Biggie Smalls reminds you of a fallen friend, then Biggie Smalls it should be.
The app is completely free, and doesn’t try to sell or sneak in ads. Sanctri seeks to reinvent the way people donate online in memoriam. There are over 8,000 non-profits in the app, so pairing the appropriate cause(s) with a loved one’s legacy is simple to set up. If cancer took a life and saving the environment was that life’s passion, then the American Cancer Society and Greenbelt Alliance can both be added.
Sanctri chose to build this app within Facebook to help users handle that awkward moment of seeing an RIP post in your feed and not knowing how best to acknowledge the update. “Do I say something too?” “Is it weird if I go back through their photo albums?” “Is it wrong if I like his mother’s ‘I miss you?’” People are using Facebook to memorialize, just as they are using Facebook to communicate during a natural disaster when the cell service is out. It’s today’s go-to platform. So given that reality, the founders sought a better way – within Facebook. A way that replaces the term liked with moved. A way that functions very similarly to the platform it’s inside, but removes the awkwardness because Sanctri is made to do just that. Remember. Post. Share. And eventually – hopefully – look back and smile.
About Sanctri
Sanctri is an app that gives the world a better way to deal with death on Facebook. Every year more than 4 million Facebook users will pass away, leaving their pages silenced and frozen in time. Sanctri is a place for friends and family to remember a life that was – and honor the relationship that still is. Anyone can create a Sanctri, and then collaborate in contributing thoughts, memories, photos and more. Users can also donate directly through the app to over 8000 charities, in memory. Sanctri has been recognized as an innovator by major news organizations and has forged partnerships with leading non-profit organizations. It is a community to receive guidance and support, and a better way to memorialize on Facebook.
For information, visit http://www.Sanctri.com, email info(at)Sanctri(dot)com, or call 212.203.6176.
Joanna Wexler, Sanctri, http://www.sanctri.com, +1 212-203-6176, [email protected]
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