With the ways that technology has revolutionized our lives, it’s no surprise that live streaming services for funerals now exist. These audio and video broadcasts have made it possible to pay last respects to friends and loved ones, even from thousands of miles away. As more people embrace this option, funeral homes, houses of worship and other organizations have begun offering it to families and mourners around the globe. However, providers are also dealing with issues of etiquette, privacy and liability when it comes to online memorial and funeral broadcasting.
Funeral Broadcasters Include Both Newcomers and Early Adopters
Although Internet live-streaming audio and video has been possible for a couple of decades, the broadcasting of funerals, memorials and graveside services is a more recent phenomenon. The Atlantic Magazine reported in December 2014 that the funeral industry slowly began adopting online broadcasting technologies in the 2000s. An October 2016 piece in the Guardian online mentioned how one early adopter, the English funerary firm HD Tribe, had jumped on board by adding it to its menu of services in 2007. However, most growth in memorial live streaming has occurred with businesses in the United States, the United Kingdom and other parts of the world within the last six to eight years.
A primary motivation for offering live-streaming service was its ability to allow far-flung relatives and loved ones to attend wakes or funerals held for the deceased. Many preferring hosting and performing these broadcasts themselves on their own digital video, audio and computer equipment. Nevertheless, funeral homes or churches that lack he infrastructure or equipment to handle online memorial services on their own can still provide it to their clients. In these cases, they hire third-party firms such as funeralOne in Detroit and the Canadian-based Online-Funeral.com to do it for them.
The decreasing costs of webcasting have also contributed to its rise in usage by funeral homes and houses of worship. The advent of broadband, as well as more widespread access to lower-cost audio and video devices, has permitted significantly more usage over the last few years. While some organizations include live streams for free, others charge anywhere between $100 and $300. However, some families chose to live-cast the event themselves using a tablet or smartphone.
Questions of Etiquette, Privacy and Liability Remain
While online broadcasts of memorials and funerals are growing in popularity, some funerary companies have declined to join the growing trend. A January 2016 Orlando Sentinel article revealed that some are concerned about the ability to control viewing and distribution. Others still feel the practice may be taboo, citing already existing concerns about inappropriate use of technology. The fact that funeral goers sometimes post photos of deceased individuals or announce a death prior to the family’s knowledge on social media might support their arguments. Finally, concerns have been raised about how web broadcasts of funerals affect the human perception of death. In The Atlantic article mentioned earlier, Los Angeles mortician and death theorist Caitlin Doughty cautioned that this practice can rob us the ability to see death up close, removing the “tangible evidence that the person we love is gone, and that we will someday be gone as well.”
Death and grieving are intimate spaces in which sensitivity, care and etiquette should be observed. While many are worried about the proper use of technology and media in this context, innovations in wireless connectivity, audio and video transmission have also provided a great way for distant family and friends to share in grieving and comfort during these difficult times. Live-streamed funerals and memorials are the latest development, facilitating relatives and friends in distant places to participate and say farewell to their loved ones.
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