# Finding out about deaths through Facebook **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-about-deaths-through-facebook/1026022 "2025-12-24T14:59:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-about-deaths-through-facebook/1026022/21 "2025-12-26T21:41:58Z")
We have a group of friends, semi-legendary from back in the middle 70’s to 80s. One lives just an hour away, we meet up every couple weeks or so. But many of the rest moved to the PNW so Facebook is how we keep in touch. We just had a death. Strangely, we have had pretty long lives, but I guess none of us were ever heavy smokers or drug users, and that helps. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-about-deaths-through-facebook/1026022/22 "2025-12-26T21:42:46Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Have any dopers learned about the death of someone they knew personally from an obituary? I happened to look at the obit page in a newspaper section I’d saved for about 6 months for some other article, and saw the mother of a friend had died. That was about 20 years ago. Large city newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-about-deaths-through-facebook/1026022/23 "2025-12-26T21:44:40Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Although, in the past few years, I have subscribed to the email notifications of death notices from several local funeral homes, which are more timely and thorough than the newspapers. So then you get notified of every death that occurs? Are you in a small town? It seems like all the obits from a large city would be unwieldy. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-about-deaths-through-facebook/1026022/24 "2025-12-26T22:37:32Z")
Facebook for the old people, instagram for the younger generation. Regular news sites are 2 or 3 days behind and can’t be trusted to know what they are talking about. instagram is about to age out soon to be replaced by something else, probably already has. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-about-deaths-through-facebook/1026022/25 "2025-12-26T22:52:31Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > So then you get notified of every death that occurs? Are you in a small town? Yes. Town of about 20k. Two funeral homes, plus the funeral home of my home town about 20 miles away. I know about 20% of the people whose obits I read. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-about-deaths-through-facebook/1026022/26 "2025-12-26T22:59:52Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Town of about 20k. Two funeral homes, plus the funeral home of my home town about 20 miles away. > > I know about 20% of the people whose obits I read. That makes sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-about-deaths-through-facebook/1026022.md?page=1)