Kobe Bryant's death prompted significantly more discussion on social media than President Donald ... [+]
When retired NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash Sunday, an outpouring of condolences and grief washed over the internet. The flood of memories posted on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter made Bryant’s death a bigger topic of conversation than the House decision on impeachment in December, according to social media data tracker Newswhip.
The service tracked more than 100 million engagements, such as Facebook shares or comments, from more than 25,000 English-language articles written. That’s “definitely on the high end for a specific topic,” Newswhip managing editor Benedict Nicholson told Forbes. When the U.S. House of Representatives approved articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in December, engagement for the entire week reached 80 million, Newswhip says.
The most viral piece of content: A New York Post article about Bryant’s penchant for riding in helicopters, which many fans criticized as in poor taste. Another viral moment: When The Washington Post suspended a journalist for posting a 2016 article on Twitter about historical sexual assault allegations against Bryant in the immediate aftermath of his death.
Yet another surge came from Bryant’s final tweet, which was sent the day before his death acknowledging that NBA star LeBron James passed him as the third in all-time scoring. His “King James” message received 2 million likes and 511,200 retweets by late Monday. Fans remembered their hero in his mentions, which also included macabre images referencing the helicopter crash that resulted in his death.
It’s not clear what will happen to his Twitter account now.
Bryant's social media presence was large, even among famous athletes, with more than 20 million followers on Facebook, 17 million on Instagram and 15 million on Twitter. But social media companies remain divided about how to handle a dead celebrities’ presence.
Twitter announced in November plans to deactivate accounts that have been inactive for more than six months—but swiftly walked back the decision a day later after an outcry from Twitter users.
"In the event of the death of a Twitter user, we can work with a person authorized to act on behalf of the estate, or with a verified immediate family member of the deceased to have an account deactivated," according to the company.
Deceased stars such as David Bowie, Prince and Michael Jackson have retained their Twitter accounts, even after death. The accounts are now controlled by their respective estates, though followers have dropped off.
Facebook says it creates a memorial page for personal accounts only, which in essence allows a person or “legacy” contact designated by the deceased to take control of the deceased’s account. In the case of Kobe Bryant, who has a public Facebook Page, the company does not memorialize the page, under the assumption that others will keep the page updated.
Instagram also says it will memorialize accounts when it “receives a valid request,” including proof of death, such as a link to an obituary. When an account is memorialized, the company essentially locks it, and does not allow anyone to log into the memorialized account. Posts the deceased person shared stay visible to the audience they shared with.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram declined to comment for this story.
