In the past, people tended to stay in the same area as their families, but now, many families live far away from each other. And due to moving frequently or travelling, many people have close friends in far flung locations as well.
Unfortunately, this means some people may not be able to attend your loved one’s memorial. To include as many people as possible, some people are opting to hold “live” funerals. Considering livestreaming your loved one’s memorial? Here is a look at the details to help you decide.
What Do You Need to Livestream a Memorial?
To livestream a funeral or memorial service, you simply need the following:
- Camera: You can rent expensive equipment, but you can also just livestream from a smartphone.
- App or website to help you with the broadcast: Most popular social media sites offer livestreaming capabilities, but there are also apps designed just for livestreaming. With a livestreaming app, anyone with an invitation can follow the service. With social media, you have to do a public livestream or be restricted to your personal contacts.
- A plan: Ideally, you should make a plan related to letting people know about the livestream. A plan helps you avoid technology glitches as well.
With just those three essentials, anyone in the world can join the memorial as long as they have an internet connection or access to a smartphone.
How Do You Invite People to a Livestream?
You can let people know about the livestream in the same ways you traditionally notify them about a memorial service. If you publish an obituary in the newspaper or online, note the date and time of the memorial and include instructions on how to watch the livestream.
Additionally, you may want to put a post on social media. If your deceased loved one has a social media account, tag them in your post so their friends can see the post.
Even if you forget to share information about the livestream, you may still want to broadcast the service. On sites such as Facebook, livestream videos tend to get about six times more interaction than other types of videos, and that fact alone increases the chance of people watching the video. Once the video is up, people can also watch it later.
What Are the Benefits of Livestreaming a Memorial?
As explained above, livestreaming allows more people to attend the memorial or funeral service from remote locations. On top of that, livestreaming is an interactive experience. During the service, people watching the livestream can leave comments, and if you like, you can even address those comments or read them during the eulogy.
When you lose a loved one, comforting sentiments from friends and family can mean a lot. As a result, the interactive nature of a livestream and the ability to include many different people can be a salve to the people attending the funeral.
Is Livestreaming a Memorial Appropriate?
As technology advances and time moves forward, social mores change. For example, during Victorian times, photographs of deceased loved ones were extremely popular. Then, in the following decades, many people moved away from this practice. In reality, taking photos is not right or wrong. It’s simply a mourning practice that goes in and out of custom.
Similarly, livestreaming is not right or wrong. Many people find it comforting to be able to include loved ones from far away, but others may decide that a livestream isn’t right for them. Ultimately, your grief is your own, and you have the right to decide how you want to say goodbye to your loved one.
To learn more about planning a memorial and to get help making arrangements for your lost loved one, contact us today. At Cremations Only, we help clients with cremations and a range of funeral options. For example, some chapels already offer live streaming. We have a professional who can do it for families as well. We also record most services as all chapels have that facility. So families can share that recording online after the service. We offer you our sincere condolences on your loss, and we would be honoured to help you during this difficult time.