I feel sad seeing once active members of a site who no longer sign in

For example, I see a user on a Gaming forum that hasn't signed on since the year 2000. His/her email no longer works and the profile is basically all but abandoned. Frozen in time. But you could see from looking at his/her profile that it was once heavily used, and you could see many forum posts, contributions, etc. You could see a unique profile that was built up into something special. But since the year 2002, the owner no longer signs in, and his profile has been left just the way it has been for over 10 years.

I have seen stuff like this on the internet, and for some reason, it makes me feel sad. It also makes me wonder what that person is doing now. Is he/she even alive? I don't mean users who close their accounts or have been banned. I mean people whose accounts have just been abandoned and left in dormancy for years. Is it normal for me to feel this way?

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74% Normal
Based on 53 votes (39 yes)
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Comments ( 8 )
  • charli.m

    Yes and no.

    Yes, it's normal to wonder or feel sad. There are users on here who no longer log on that I wonder about.

    No, it wouldn't be normal if this was more than a passing thought. It's the itnernet, not real life.

    I don't think you fall into that second category, OP, just stating it.

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  • Who cares how they are doing. 90% of what people say on the net makes me want to kill them anyways.

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  • Dad

    Yes its sad when people grow up.

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  • CrystalKlear17

    Omg I feel like this all time! I wonder what happened to them that made them stop using the site or account. Did they get bored of it? and why? did they pass away? I always think like this and I wonder what they're doing with their lives now.

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  • Glass

    Looking at old posts gives me a strange feeling, like a depressing bit of nostalgia for experiences with one I didn't know. Its as if you're looking at the ghost of a person you never knew, not unlike a graveyard, each name carries a life of stories you'll never be told.

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  • NothingxCrazy

    There's sort of a mystery to it, like a story with no ending. I don't think as far into it as you might but it does make me wonder.

    I've had friends on online games who just disappear and never log in anymore. I always look back at their profiles hoping they'll show up.

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  • dappled

    Yeah. I've been reading potato's comments on here since someone mentioned we were similar. It's a shame I never got a chance to know her.

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  • NeuroNeptunian

    It's normal.

    People can be so temporary sometimes. I know that I have a few websites in which I left an account either because I only made it to ask one question or because I went there and it was more effort than it was worth to participate so I left.

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