In today’s digital world, businesses must evolve to thrive. Funeral directors need to embrace technology as a powerful tool for connecting and supporting families. Funeral professionals can use online platforms to help families design digital funeral tributes and memorials that preserve the lives of loved ones.
While this space is influential in supporting mourners through their grieving process, it raises ethical questions the death care industry must address. Creating ethical guidelines for digital funeral tributes is key to upholding respect, integrity, and dignity.
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What are digital funeral tributes?
Digital funeral tributes, like their physical version, celebrate the life of a loved one. Personalized memorials capture the essence of the deceased through sharing memories and stories unique to them in several ways, such as speech, song, poem, or writing.
A digital tribute appears online and is everlasting. Ideas include videos, slideshows, customized musical playlists, and virtual photo galleries.
Why create digital funeral tributes?
Nowadays, people are questioning the benefits of funerals and seeking alternative ways to cope with the grieving process. As individuals change their views, the funeral industry evolves to meet their needs.
People seek more personal ways to celebrate a loved one’s life, and online tributes enable an interactive opportunity. Families and friends worldwide share everlasting memories and photos for generations to observe. Examples of digital funeral tributes include dedicated websites and social media pages.
Digital tributes align with awareness of minimizing impact on the environment. Online memorials are accessible to everyone, including individuals living long distances from the deceased. Technology reduces the need for paper and travel, reducing carbon footprint.
Other groups of people embracing internet tributes are pet owners, who feel that grieving for their beloved companion is overlooked. Establishing online interactive memorials enables like-minded people to share condolences and experiences. Online apps offer a unique funeral tribute through lifelike 3D pet images from uploaded photos.
Concerns over digital content
“Digital technologies have advanced more rapidly than any innovation in our history – reaching around 50 per cent of the developing world’s population in only two decades and transforming societies.” (United Nations, UN75 2020 and Beyond, n.d.)
In contrast, the death care market has traditionally embraced the internet slowly, deeming their services to require a personal touch. Over the years, funeral directors have evaluated which digital services are appropriate for dealing with death and grieving.
The idea behind digital content for funeral services is to enhance accessibility, making connections possible with a vast, often international audience. However, providing these internet services has raised concerns regarding data security, privacy, emotional well-being, cultural sensitivity, and grief commercialization. Addressing these matters has led to the creation of ethical guidelines for digital services.
Related: Ethical Standards in the Funeral Industry
What is ethics?
“Ethics is based on well-founded standards of right and wrong. [They] prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.” (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, November 8, 2021)
Ethics and morals are often intertwined. However, ethics refer to the rules and principles of conduct from an external source, such as in work environments like the death care industry. Morals, on the other hand, relate to an individual’s sense of right and wrong.
Ethics in the funeral profession
Funeral industry ethics fall under the professional category, and conduct is paramount. Funeral professionals have an obligation to work professionally and in a caring manner. They follow a code of conduct with definitions and standards, eliminating room for personal beliefs.
The 2004 Code of Professional Conduct provides guidelines for funeral directors and their workers in five key areas, including services offered to families. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) ensures funeral professionals fulfill the ethical guidelines.
Without a professional code of conduct, negative consequences can lead to mistrust, disrespect, and damage to an organization’s reputation. Professionals can act without accountability.
Ethical considerations for digital funeral tributes
There are several key areas to consider when creating ethical guidelines for funeral digital tributes.
Obtaining full consent before designing digital tributes is essential. Funeral homes should also know the deceased’s wishes and provide transparent policies for building a memorial page. It’s important to clarify who will create and manage content, and the issue of costs needs to be clear. While some digital memorials are free, some funeral directors may charge for providing a digital tribute.
Tributes must display only relevant information according to customers’ preferences. It is also paramount to respect users’ decisions regarding how the page will be shared, whether to keep it private, share it with a small select group, or make it public.
Data protection and security
In today’s digital world, reliable platforms using encryption, robust antivirus software, backups, and strong passwords help protect data and personal information.
Inclusive and accessible
One of the main reasons for creating an online tribute is accessibility and inclusivity. It enables mourners to attend funeral services regardless of location or ability to participate and interact. Providing user-friendly interfaces with step-by-step guides will help less tech-savvy individuals connect.
Cultural and religious respect
Upholding sensitivity and dignity in the digital world ensures that everyone feels safe and respected, no matter what their cultural and religious preferences. Being mindful when monitoring images, music, or intrusive advertisements will minimize inadvertently offending individuals with inappropriate material.
Preserving online digital tributes
Transparency is essential to ethical guidelines, and policies should clearly outline the duration a digital funeral tribute will be maintained and accessible to the deceased’s family. Options for lifelong tributes, downloading, and archiving digital memories help a loved one’s legacy live on.
Establishing ethical guidelines
Funeral directors are ethically obligated to respectfully and compassionately care for the deceased and their grieving families. They can fulfil their responsibilities by staying current with the latest guidelines, developing clear policies, and providing staff training.
Creating ethical guidelines for digital tributes should be approached with the same level of thoughtfulness and diligence as physical memorials.
