One of my members passed away

[Scott]

One of my most respected members passed away today.  While I had met him only a few times very briefly, he was one of the most respected names in the field to which my network is dedicated.  He has numerous posts on my site as well as many replies, etc.

Is there anything I should do as a moderator?  If I remove his account it will remove all his posts.  I don't know what the respectful thing to do here should be.  I don't want people sending him messages through the site that his widow won't receive, etc.

I had never thought about a member dying.  I'm wondering if anyone knows what the right thing to do is.


thanks for the help,
Scott

[Lora]

Wow... that's a tough one. Maybe post it in a text box on the side somewhere just to let folks know on the site and then leave a comment on his wall for now informing folks.

I would say leave his page until the family notifies you or after a few months go by. I hope someone can give you better advice... :)

[Scott]

Thanks Lora-

This guy was an absolute icon in our industry, so I posted something center on the main page and sent out an announcement to all the members. I'm trying to think of an analog comparison, but it's really hard to do. The guy was just huge.

I can't remove his posts from my site, they are too valuable to future readers.

Looking for answers on this one...

[Almir]

I think you can ban/remove someone's account without deleting his content. There is an option to do that when banning someone.

Test it with some bogus account.

[Laura]

That's right, Almir. You can suspend a member, but leave their content up on your Ning Network. That may be the best option for this situation...

[Scott]

Thanks,

If I suspend him will his page still be there? I'd like to modify or remove his page to avoid any confusion down the road.

[Almir]

That could be a problem. I don't remember what happened (I've checked it once). If I remember good, his content didn't show on the page, it looked like locked one. But it wouldn't be nice to see the "suspended" message on his profile in your case (I'm not sure if it does, if I remember good it was something like "is not member of this network anymore" but I'm not sure, don't rely on this.

Best odd is making some bogus account, adding some forum post and than suspending that account. You'll see what's going on in that case.

[Devilwoman]

Id leave it , if it was me and specifically if he was a respected member... Thanks Devilwoman

Suggest to members to go say goodbye and leave a comment on his page, that will end the confusion.. send a message to all members.

Thanks Devilwoman

[Marilynn]

How did you change the text on his page?

[Neo Dreams]

We lost a Team Member of our network and I keep His page up and also added a memorial page to boot. We all added post on there as a memorial to the member so it is pretty easy to tell he is no longer with us.
Love and Light to you and your group from Building New Worlds. We hope that what every you chose to do in this manner you find comfort in it for yourself and all others touched by this members passing.

[Devilwoman]

We had a member on our site die as well, We closed his discussions and left them. We did a small memoriam on our page as well for this person.

I would leave him on, part of his legacy will continue, in spirit.

Thanks Devilwoman

[Monique]

Well, I think about dying leaving my network. I would think that your member would want his work and words live on. I would try and leave a notice on his profile but keep his profile alive.

[Ariadne Akasha]

I say leave it there. A friend passed a year ago ago, I went to find his page today as his daughter recently passed away and could find none of the remembrance/sympathies. there was over 15 pages...gone. It makes me sad, at least I have the memories. I have a memorial group on my site. Maybe that will help. you can close a page and still keep their discussions. Take what info you need for the memorial then delete the page just create a way for people to remember their friend.
Ariadne