DeathCare (.com)

Do you use Twitter? If not, you probably wonder what the Twitter fuss is all about. If you’re using Twitter, you may think that those who don’t use it just don’t “get it.” Whether or not you use Twitter, you might be surprised to learn that this social media tool has penetrated the death care industry. And, unlike the morbid specters you think you might encounter, these folks are – well – they’re alive and ordinary, with hobbies, families and stories to tell.

We let our fingers go walking through Twellow, the Twitter “Yellow Pages” to discover death care industry folks who are using Twitter. While the numbers weren’t astronomical, we don’t doubt that these figures may change as more death care businesses realize this social media tool’s commercial potential. We only chose a few links from Twellow’s search results to provide you with a taste of what you can encounter on Twitter.

The list below is categorized under the search word we used to find these links, and the links are arranged alphabetically under those categories. This method assures our readers that we do not favor one resource over another; however, we did skip over business-to-business accounts to offer Twitter users who focus on non-industry readers.

Hospice

1. ctsinclair: Hospice & Palliative Medicine Doctor in Kansas City. Co-editor of Pallimed, a hospice and palliative medicine blog.
2. hvto: This is Robin Watts, founder of first hospice volunteer training online course. Learn more at Hospice Volunteer Training.
3. MyCareManager: Edward L. De La Loza is a psychotherapist and geriatric care manager. His interests include hospice, aging and eldercare among other things. His Web site is My Family Care Manager.
4. SanDiegoHospice: San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine is a “non-profit leader in the relief of pain and suffering.” Learn more at their Web site.
5. StAnnsHospice: This user’s name is Catherine Williams, and she is the Director of Fundraising and Communications for St Ann’s Hospice in Manchester, UK.

Funeral

1. buryorburn: Scott Gilligan is the “Funeral Maverick,” fighting big business death. He mainly posts about his blog entries at his Web site.
2. funeralogues: Here’s an offbeat Twitter find: One woman off-Broadway show that is a darkly comedic look at the inside of funeral homes, funeral rituals and one woman’s personal obsession with death. Visit the official Web site.
3. funeralplanner: Funeral planning and resource guide. The Web site is called the Funeral Planning Guide.
4. funeralqueen: This is Muneerah Warner, funeral director of Warner Funeral Home and Publisher of Funerals Today Magazine, a new publication for individuals interested in funerals and an inside look at the funeral industry
5. Otrib: Free obituary and funeral planning help and grief support forums and chat rooms at their Web site.

Cemetery and Cemeteries

1. cemeteryminda: Minda Powers-Douglas is a writer who digs cemeteries (“not literally”). She edits Epitaphs Magazine (The Cemetery Club is Epitaph Magazine’s online venue) and teaches workshops.
2. CemeterySpot: Hal Stevens is an author of books about end-of-life issues and owner of Web sites that provide free online memorials and free buy/sell cemetery plot services. His main site is named, aptly, Cemetry Spot.
3. JewishGYrabbit: Schelly Dardashti is part of an international team that writes about Jewish cemeteries, news, burial, mourning, symbols and more at the Jewish Graveyard Rabbit.
4. RivCem: The historic Riverside Cemetery Conservancy goes online to help “preserve the past for the future.”
5. southerngraves: ‘S. Lincecum’ is an amateur historian, avid reader, genealogist and family historian, lover of cemeteries, and scrapbooker with a Web site to prove cemetery interests.

Go ahead and give Twellow a whirl. However, if you try “green funeral,” “cremations,” “body donation” or “grief management” you won’t find one tweet (an entry made by a person who uses Twitter). But, if you’re patient for a week or so, you may discover that a business or two will fill those niches.

Filed under: Cemeteries, Death & Dying, Hospice on March 30th, 2009