# Suggestion: Additional Member Status of 'Deceased' **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 18, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-additional-member-status-of-deceased/606647 "2011-12-18T17:34:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-additional-member-status-of-deceased/606647/101 "2011-12-24T01:08:08Z")
pretty cocky for a new guy, innit? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-additional-member-status-of-deceased/606647/102 "2011-12-25T14:15:35Z")
“He’s dead, Cecil.” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-additional-member-status-of-deceased/606647/103 "2011-12-25T21:56:49Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > That kinda strikes me as the very _definition_ of morbid. No, acknowledgement of death does not equal an unhealthy fascination in unpleasant and disturbing subjects. Morbid would be putting a sig block that describes in detail just how the person died, including how long it took, how much pain they were in, and whether or not they their family members were sad or happy they were gone. Merely acknowledging death is not morbid. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-additional-member-status-of-deceased/606647/104 "2011-12-26T04:39:33Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > I’m not in favor of this idea. > > We have plenty of threads where someone made a post and they’re not coming back to that thread. Some of those people still post here, some of them don’t. I’m with **Tuba**. I don’t see the point. It might well be respectful or a tribute, as the OP says, but the dead poster won’t know. Treating posters with respect and showing appreciation for them while they’re alive means something; afterwards, not so much. Trying to engage a deceased poster in an old thread is rare, and no one should be embarrassed by it. Changing the status has more potential to derail threads. “Did she die? How? When? Wasn’t she the one with 18 cats?” Or “Good riddance, I never liked him”. When we learn that we’ve lost someone, that’s the time to share memories. If someone passes and we don’t ever know, well, that’s how it goes. It happens in real life too. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-additional-member-status-of-deceased/606647/105 "2011-12-26T05:41:41Z")
Ha! Why did I know you’d so something like that, **TriP**? Couldn’t have been that almost hour you and I spent on the phone recently trying to correct my bolding problem, would it? 🙂 Q ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-additional-member-status-of-deceased/606647/106 "2011-12-26T06:09:19Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Ha! Why did I know you’d so something like that, **TriP**? Couldn’t have been that almost hour you and I spent on the phone recently trying to correct my bolding problem, would it? 🙂 > > Q You never know if it’s me or the virus 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-additional-member-status-of-deceased/606647/107 "2011-12-28T16:51:16Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’m with **Tuba**. I don’t see the point. It might well be respectful or a tribute, as the OP says, but the dead poster won’t know. Treating posters with respect and showing appreciation for them while they’re alive means something; afterwards, not so much. To me, it has nothing to do with showing respect or offering tribute or getting to know someone as a person. Knowing that the person who wrote a particular comment is dead would be good information for forming my response to it. It helps me understand better who my audience is going to be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-additional-member-status-of-deceased/606647.md?page=5)