Technology and death. Post-mortem survival in the age of social media

Abstract

Introduction: Aiming to transcend the binary system, the article raises questions that demonstrate the coexistence of categories that configure a narrative tension around the technology and death. Methods and discussion: Based on a theoretical review, the article addresses manifestations of death in virtual environments which, turning the experiencing of absence into presence, account for substantial transformations in communication processes. Results and conclusions: The ease with which the living can interact with the transmissible traces of the dead proves that technology not only breaks down the barriers of distance but also the barriers of death, restoring it as a social diachronic exchange.