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MOUNT VERNON — Before the Internet, obituaries were read only in newspapers. Maybe magazines too, if the deceased was famous. Today, obituaries are online, where they can be viewed by anyone, anywhere, if they have a connection to the Internet. Online condolences are popular too, especially for someone who can’t get to the funeral, but they’ll most likely never replace an old-fashioned sympathy card, letter or personal visit.

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 Legacy.com was founded in 1998 and is based in Evanston, Ill. Hayes Ferguson, chief operating officer, said its clients include more than 300 newspapers.

Visitors to the Web site can search by name for an obituary, read the comments, condolences and sentiments others have posted to the guest book, and post their own. Some 4,500 obituaries are posted each day — which amounts to one of every two deaths in the United States — and more than 600,000 guest book entries are posted each month.

“Overwhelmingly, the entries submitted are moving and positive,” said Ferguson.

“But there are people out there who try to air dirty laundry,” she added. “They might be loved ones, colleagues, former students.”

In 2005, more than 5 million guest book entries were submitted to Legacy.com, most by well-intentioned, grieving people, according to Ferguson.

A very small number, however — about 200,000 or 3 percent — have to be deleted by 45 company employees called “readers.” They don’t edit, but they do review each and every guest book submission for foul language, offensive references, inappropriate comments and copyright infringement. Ferguson said many people try to post poems and song lyrics as tributes, but since both are protected by copyright, such use is against the law without permission of the author.

There have been unsuccessful attempts to post such barbs, and sometimes people try to heat up disputes.

Ferguson said she is sometimes shocked over how blatantly ugly the submissions are.

And then there are the spammers. They submit offers to the deceased and/or their families for everything under the sun. Another form of spam includes attempts to convert the survivors to the spammer’s religion.

Internet condolences haven’t yet become a trend in Knox County. Snyder Funeral Homes offer an online condolence service at its Web site but not guest books. The condolences go directly to the office staff for screening before being mailed to the family.

“No. 1, it’s the World Wide Web and sometimes you get a lot of spam,” said owner Wes Snyder. “Not offering guest books, we learned, takes away the possibility of somebody getting away with something negative. We can delete the ones that are negative or sales.”

Fischer Funeral Home, located in Warsaw and Danville, doesn’t offer online condolences at all, although it has a Web site.

“We feel that being in small communities, there is no call for it,” said Jesse Fischer, funeral director. “So until we get requests from the families we serve, we won’t offer it. The families in our communities would rather have the personal touch, to be able to shake someone’s hand, sign the guest book and have fellowship together.”

Copyright © 2006. Mount Vernon News.