Skip to main content

Social media for the deceased? There's an app for that.

new suffolk app is facebook for dead people cemetery
creative commons
Social networking appears to extend into the great beyond now, or at least it does for those interred at the City of Suffolk Cemeteries. It seems that even in death, one can not escape the bonds of technology, and for the proponents of this new technology, that is a great thing.

The City of Suffolk’s Department of Parks and Recreation recently launched an app that was a year and $20,000 in the making. The app allows users to find grave sites with the accuracy of GPS technology and satellites. The city collaborated with webCemetaries.com, a Virginville, Pennsylvania-based company that has been in business since 2005, and services customers in 20 states, according to The Virginian Pilot.

Some of the city’s cemeteries date back to the 1800s, and are large enough that finding a specific grave site can be difficult. The app not only helps locate burial sites, but also provides a social media-like page that users can access and add to. Obituaries, pictures, remembrances, and tributes can all be uploaded to a deceased’s profile page. Anyone can submit information to a profile page, but there is a review process that prevents negative and inappropriate material from being posted.

A recent increase on interest in family genealogy is another factor that has been driving the success of apps like this, which seem to resonate more with younger, tech-savvy generations who are used to using social media for just about everything.

History buffs are also drawn to the new technology, which enables them to more easily access information on historical figures as well as find and visit their grave sites. Other resources like Find a Grave and Ancestry.com have increased in popularity and use recently as interest in personal genealogy and family history increases.

Suffolk City hopes that their new app is a hit, and more importantly is useful to those who frequent its cemeteries. The City said that the app should also help to remove the need to respond to up to 30 calls per week and associated research directed toward helping people find specific graves.

Dave Palmer
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Dave’s technology geek-fest began with the classic Commodore 64 computer, which started a lifelong passion for all things…
WhatsApp now lets you control who can see your profile
The WhatsApp app icon on a phone with other messaging apps.

WhatsApp is now letting you decide who gets to view certain aspects of your profile.

This week, Meta's popular messaging and calling app announced via a tweet that it is offering new privacy options for its users, including the ability to choose "who from your contact list can see your Profile Photo, About, and Last Seen status."

Read more
Instagram and Facebook apps add features, move ever-closer to TikTok parity
Screenshots of full-screen posts on Instagram.

Meta has introduced new tools for the Reels video feature on Instagram and Facebook that are a one-two punch against TikTok. The company announced the new features on Thursday, saying they would make it easier for content creators who prefer one or both of the platforms to their behemoth long-form video competitor to better connect with their audience.

On Instagram, Meta has extended Reels to 90 seconds, giving users more time to express themselves and promote their brands and products. In addition to the extended run time, Reels is also getting stickers that were once exclusive to Instagram Stories. Aside from the captions that are present at the beginning of a video, users will be able to use polls, stickers, and emoji slider stickers when showing their viewers new things or comparing what hairstyle, outfit, or product design they might like best.

Read more
WhatsApp Communities want to be your private social media
Whatsapp Communities on Samsung smart phones.

WhatsApp is adding a Communities feature to the eponymous instant messaging platform, adding a social media aspect to it that will have all group conversations protected by end-to-end encryption. Unlike the new community feature on Twitter that brings together like-minded users, the core idea of Communities on WhatsApp is that it allows multiple groups to be aggregated into one super-group.

But unlike social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, a WhatsApp Community won’t be openly discoverable. The phone numbers of users also won’t be publicly visible to all Community members. Only the admin and other members of a group can see them.

Read more