ReadWriteWeb

As anyone who's lost a loved one knows, the process of dealing with a death is grueling - on both a practical and an emotional level. That's nothing new. But with the rise of Internet technologies, some of the processes and practices we've developed around death and dying may be changing. As daily newspaper readership dwindles, for example, what will become of the obituary? As more of us record and share our lives via social networking sites, what will become of our online profiles when we die?

That was the subject of a recent story in The New York Times Magazine, "Cyberspace When You're Dead," that examined digital estate planning, if you will - the steps that people are starting to take in order to secure their online assets. There are books and websites and a whole range of new services and companies popping up that aim to help with the planning.

I've decided I really, really, really don't want to die. Anyone know where I can make a secure off-site backup?

We like startups and innovation here at RWW so we try to pay attention to the news good and bad about what tech entrepreneurs are up to. It certainly seemed strange then that almost no one but its users and the intrepid Andy Baio seemed to notice that the CNet-acquired hipster dating/social site Consumating announced that it will close down in mid March.

Movie reviewer Ben Brown founded Consumating some time between 2003 and 2005, as a joke, unless he's joking about it being a joke. This is the Bay Area we're talking about, so from an outside and sane perspective it's hard to know what's real.