Death is inevitable but the passing of a close family member is still one of the most traumatic events a person can ever experience, showering us with a range of emotions such as grief, sadness, frustration, heightened anxiety and even anger.
The impact that it has on an individual can be absolutely devastating and it was recently experienced by a close friend of mine when her mum died prematurely after a long battle with cancer.
In a fitting tribute to her mum, my friend took great comfort in the fact that she could connect with members of her family that she hadn't seen in years sharing fond memories of her mum at the funeral.
These sorts of stories are commonplace in the funeral industry with families and friends often rallying around supporting each other as the result of reconnecting at a funeral.
You may be asking yourself what does this story has to do with the online world of social media but here lies the very essence of exactly "why" social media outlets work.
It's a well-known fact that it is in the human nature to want to connect and the social media sites of today simply provide the outlet necessary to allow people to do so.
When you think about it, the funeral industry has been practicing social media for a number of years providing a "media platform" to weave together families and friends at their greatest time of need.
Whilst social media feeds have long been responsible for informing users of celebrity deaths, they are becoming increasingly popular among everyday people wishing to remember, share their thoughts and to deal with the grief of losing a loved one or friend.
The number of Britons going online has now doubled since 2006 and almost half of the 33 million current UK internet users use social networks on a daily basis, new figures show.
According to figures from the latest report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Eurostat, people in the UK were also found to be the second most prolific social network users in Europe - being beaten only by the Netherlands.
The figures also discovered that although the majority of UK users are aged between 16 and 24 years old, 19 per cent of people aged 65 to 74 now use social networks.
As we invest more of ourselves into our online presence, your own social networking profile could in fact become a spot where your friends and family could share memories of you long after you're gone.
