In today's culture of instant updates, it's perhaps a fitting tribute that Facebook has introduced the National September 11 Memorial & Museum Application in honor of the nearly 3,000 souls lost on 9/11.
The Facebook page allows users to dedicate their status update to someone whose life was lost to us on September 11. The post names the person and posts as a status on your Facebook wall.
To do this, go to the application page and click the link marked "Please dedicate my status to the memory of one of the nearly 3,000 victims of 9/11" or use the link below it to dedicate your status to a specific person lost on the attacks on that day.
Other features of the page include a button to tag your profile pic to show your support of the victims of 9/11, and a window to post personal reflections.
Fundamentally Facebook
As of Friday night, around 30,000 people have "liked" the page.
It's a natural progression that the social networking site has co-sponsored the page, which gives Facebook users a place to air their thoughts about the tragedy on September 11, 2001 and bring the focus to the victims, rather than the memorial itself.
The application, developed by Involver in conjunction with Facebook and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, is free to use and requires little more than a click to apply.
It's one way Facebook users connect over the remembrances of the ten-year anniversary of the attacks. It allows those unable to travel to the memorial itself to pay tribute to those who lost their lives.
It is, however, not without criticism. Some have noted that the memorial doesn't represent what they feel is an appropriate tribute to our fallen first responders and the many victims of the events of that day 10 years ago when so many died, and so brutally.
Memorial Messages
The page asks users, "How are you remembering 9/11?" By Friday night, over 300 comments had been logged in response.
Many of these comments, however, are about the memorial itself, rather than how respondents will remember September 11.
Many of the responses posted to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum Facebook page, which is separate from the application, reflect upon the way parents are dealing with the events of that day. Mother Melissa Conway writes, "Been talking a lot about this with my 11 year old daughter who was just a baby then. She has a ton of questions."
The collective is a snapshot of history every bit as much as the day to which they pay tribute, a reminder that we're a nation still healing, and still reaching out to others, trying to make sense of a day of nightmares.
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