It seems like the issue of digital death has reached mainstream, evidenced by The Onion now commenting on it.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/facebook_friend_apparently

“Boy. That’s a shame. Just goes to show you that you really have to enjoy every SuperPoke like it’s your last.”

Thanks to Sharkey for the link.

In this post, Steven Keith, a strategist at Capstrat, has provided me with the next real world need in search of an online equivalent.

I recently watched the director’s cut of Bladerunner. His job is to kill the aging androids. I thought a job of the future would be to kill someone’s digital past- for hire. Or offer services to alter relics or artifacts of someone’s past so you could change history to protect their political or executive future.

Imagine virtual detectives and digital hitmen roaming the bytes of your past annihilating all evidence of your misgivings, paving the road to your new pristine tomorrow in exchange for money, services or whatever form the currency of our reputation will take.

I think of “The Wolf” in Pulp fiction combined with Trinity from The Matrix. A super-stealthy hacker who can mop up your bloody past and erase your digital finger prints – all without leaving a trace.

Will there be legitimate and/or underground “cleaner” services that allow someone to erase “unfortunate” moments captured and released into the wilds of the Web? Will you want to do this at your death to gussy up your digital afterlife? Or will you want to control when your secrets hit the street. Personally, I am still waiting for someone on their death bed to spill the beans about JFK’s murder, like the inventor of Big Foot.

A friend emailed this today. Written by chromepoet.

Very soon, we will read about people who toss it all by posting a list of their usernames/passwords, shutting down their computers and walking off the grid, never to be heard of again. It will be the equivalent of a digital suicide.

And would make a great movie.

I love it. Digital Suicide. What a bizarre concept.