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The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

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Re: The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

#21

Post by ImperatorLunae »

alanh wrote: post #6
danshapiro wrote: post #3

It would be fascinating to calculate when the dead on Facebook will outnumber the living. Anyone able to interpolate based on the data provided + Facebook's growth rate?

If the number active (alive) Facebook users grows at a sufficient exponential rate, e.g. each new generation has at least 2× the users of the last generation, then the answer would be “never” Edit: Um, humans do grow in population in an exponential pattern… how long do you think the population has been at 6.8 billion?

Humans do not necessarily reproduce exponentially. Hans Rosling's TED talks feature, as a central theme, that the population can stabilize at 9 billion with the right initiatives and social changes. http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_g...

Re: The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

#22

Post by msluyter »

cosmicray wrote: post #9

This seems like a (morbid) opportunity. An AI to keep these people posting on each other walls. I'm reminded of a short story by Larry Niven... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Defenseless_Dead

Or, what would be sort of interesting is a feature to allow you to post one or more status updates after death. "If you're reading this now, the mission was unsuccessful..."

Re: The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

#23

Post by alanh »

ImperatorLunae wrote: post #21
alanh wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the number active (alive) Facebook users grows at a sufficient exponential rate, e.g. each new generation has at least 2× the users of the last generation, then the answer would be “never” Edit: Um, humans do grow in population in an exponential pattern… how long do you think the population has been at 6.8 billion?

Humans do not necessarily reproduce exponentially. Hans Rosling's TED talks feature, as a central theme, that the population can stabilize at 9 billion with the right initiatives and social changes. http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_g...

My post starts with "If". (I imagine the possibility of a singularity and the consequent interstellar expansions and/or virtual entities.)

Re: The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

#25

Post by eru »

Psyonic wrote: post #11
alanh wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the number active (alive) Facebook users grows at a sufficient exponential rate, e.g. each new generation has at least 2× the users of the last generation, then the answer would be “never” Edit: Um, humans do grow in population in an exponential pattern… how long do you think the population has been at 6.8 billion?

Last I checked humans are limited in supply. AI users though...

Currently there are many zero AIs, as far as we know.

Re: The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

#26

Post by jules »

jonathanbgood wrote: post #17
jules wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to world population on wikipedia it seems like more people live now than have died since year 1.

I read that this is an urban myth and actually only a few percent of the people who have ever lived are alive today.

Ever lived != lived since year 1. That said I just looked at the table on wikipedia and did some simple calculations. In any case even if more people died since year 1 than are alive today, not many more died.

If you take ALL deaths, that does greatly outnumber the people alive today.

Re: The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

#27

Post by jules »

tmorgan wrote: post #16
alanh wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the number active (alive) Facebook users grows at a sufficient exponential rate, e.g. each new generation has at least 2× the users of the last generation, then the answer would be “never” Edit: Um, humans do grow in population in an exponential pattern… how long do you think the population has been at 6.8 billion?

Well, populations are typically modeled as a sigmoid function, they only appear to be growing exponentially. I think it's fair to assume total population will stabilise whilst we are still resource limited to Earth.

It seems that we are at the inflection point of the sigmoid:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/World-Pop...

Re: The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

#28

Post by shasta »

jules wrote: post #27
tmorgan wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, populations are typically modeled as a sigmoid function, they only appear to be growing exponentially. I think it's fair to assume total population will stabilise whilst we are still resource limited to Earth.

It seems that we are at the inflection point of the sigmoid: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/World-Pop...

Reassuring to see that the UN doesn't predict any large discontinuities in that graph

Re: The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

#29

Post by brc »

I know of at least one, and it's annoying when Facebook does that 'hey, you haven't talked to this person in a while, write them a message' thing. There needs to be a way for the deceased to have accounts either deactivated or taken out of regular circulation.

Re: The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

#30

Post by larrywright »

purp wrote: post #15
jaaron wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Facebook wall for one of my passed away friends is regularly populated with notes and shared memories by those who knew him.

Same here. I got two FB firsts this year: first death of a friend I learned of via FB (I've had another since), and first "update" from a dead friend who's mother now controls his account.

I have a friend who passed away earlier this year. I found out on Facebook, as there was a sudden influx of people commenting on his wall about his passing.

8 months later, the account is still active. Facebook will occasionally tell me that I should reconnect with him, which frankly is a bit creepy.

The worst part, however, is that his mom still posts messages on his wall as if he can read them. I find this equal parts creepy and sad.

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