Exclusive
This is taking coronavirus fears to the ultimate extreme — rather than waiting until it’s too late, more and more Americans are writing in-memoriam addresses … for themselves.
As you know, standard funerals aren’t happening anymore under “safer-at-home” guidelines — and online memorial services are now the norm. Keeper, a company that allows people to create memorial pages, tells TMZ … it’s seen a big increase in people using their “Living Memorial” feature.
Might sound like a very morbid DIY, but Keeper’s president, Mandy Benoualid, tells us their site lets users create a detailed chronicle of their lives — complete with timelines, milestones, photos, and memories from loved ones.
She says the “Living Memorial” feature also lets you designate who’ll be your “keeper” when you’re gone. Overall, she says their site has seen a 300% increase in traffic.
GatheringUS is another online memorial site, and it’s also been very busy. CEO Noha Waibsnaider says one of their newest virtual tools is seeing some love — the video conference memorial/funeral, which is super elaborate, but tech-friendly.
Mourners log into the chat, and they’re walked through the service by an MC of sorts, who mutes their mics and then tells them when it’s their turn to speak. There’s even a “reception” afterward, and they break guests up into “tables” — separate video chats, basically.
GatheringUS also has memorial pages people can set up, but it sounds like their digital goodbye parties are seeing more action than online funerals.
That’s a good thing.