Death, immortality and oblivion on social networks

If Internet, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and social networks in general have completely transformed our lives, our relationships and the way we communicate, why shouldn't they do the same with death, immortality, mourning and memories? Commemorative profiles of friends who are still among our contacts. Loved ones who have died that are kept in our phone records. Demonstrations of collective mourning on social media when a star dies. Selfies snapped in funeral homes and cemeteries. Funerals streamed. Chat that allows speaking in real time with dead friends. There is no doubt: technology has also entered this aspect of human existence, an aspect which has always been regarded as untouchable and poorly suited to the chaos and informality of the digital space and the boisterous environment of social networks. What will remain of our digital lives? What will happen to all of our data - emails, tweets, status, photos and videos - after our death? Will they become immortal, or could this information enter oblivion? What will happen to our digital legacy? The Digital Book of the Dead (Il Libro Digitale dei Morti) written by Giovanni Ziccardi, presented on this occasion for the first time, observes the future of our digital lives to help us survive in the network, to plan the death of our data and our digital heritage, or, why not, to disappear completely.