i'm morgan radford, and "the stream" is up next. for news updates all throughout the day, head over to aljazeera.com.

consider this. the news of the day plus so much more. answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. i was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago and then i was diagnosed stage four 18 months ago, i know my cancer is

terminal but you can be optimistic with that. i have handled it with humor and made a joke about it the other day thinking he gets it, you know, part of life and it's okay to talk about. >> reporter: welcome back, what you were just looking at is a clip from the serious my last days created by our guest justin which shares the stories of people living with a terminal illness and discussing how social media is being used to talk about terminal illness and dying and what we put out on twitter is there an etiquette to what you can and cannot say online, what are folks saying? >> it's honorable you are trying not to cry. >> reporter: i'm not crying but before the break teary. >> reporter: i want america to know that and goes back to the point that david you were making about how this remains a taboo in american society and stephanie said i'm not sure there is a real etiquette and death is a huge taboo topic and

a conversation most people don't ever have and jennifer says it's appropriate to talk on social media but discretion is appreciated. however, death is a part of life and on facebook chris warns i wouldn't recommend this unless you have got thick skin. the internet can be a powder cake over the most innocuous remarks and tony says i no etiquette and needs to be a positive outlet and as we have seen in the first segment it is positive for so many. >> reporter: your blog about your experience and have a huge online community that openly discusses this issue and you talk about a lot of things, how do you decide what to share and what to hold back? >> well, i think in this issue as it's not an etiquette per se as i have a story. and i'm a writer. so the way that i process what

on the video blog or youtube on the video blog or youtube channel and it's kind of driven channel and it's kind of driven us to think more carefully about

us to think more carefully about what topics to choose and how to what topics to choose and how to do that. do that. >> reporter: community has been >> reporter: community has been tweeting in and lisa personal tweeting in and lisa personal stories and cancer is a severe stories and cancer is a severe experience i have under gone and experience i have under gone and left its scar and talking to left its scar and talking to others has eased my emotional others has eased my emotional suffers and got this from irish suffers and got this from irish eyes and said i read that those eyes and said i read that those dying was living their lives as dying was living their lives as others wanted instead of how others wanted instead of how they wished and flint is they wished and flint is doubting it, joking about stuff doubting it, joking about stuff and morbid like death is good and morbid like death is good because laughing is good because laughing is good medicine. medicine. and you know david we just heard and you know david we just heard david and deborah, you david and deborah, you know, know, it's remarkable with the boyant it's remarkable with the boyant spirit and laughing about this. spirit and laughing about this. >> full of life. >> full of life. >> lisa is crying and figure out >> lisa is crying and figure out how they can laugh about cancer. how they can laugh about cancer. >> reporter: look at the guy >> reporter: look at the guy with terminal four cancer and with terminal four cancer and his wife, they are laughing and his wife, they are laughing and living in the living in the moment. moment. contrast? contrast? >> exactly. >> exactly. >> laughing about this, you >> laughing about this, you know, embracing the dark humor know, embracing the dark humor if you will of death, that if you will of death, that

allows people to move on. allows people to move on. >> it connects us with our life >> it connects us with our life and faces our fear, you know, and faces our fear, you know, death is obviously one of our death is obviously one of our greatest fears and when you greatest fears and when you think about twitter we think 144 think about twitter we think 144 characters, you cannot express characters, you cannot express yourself. yourself. last years of life really our last years of life really our whole life there is not a lot to whole life there is not a lot to say and they used to say four say and they used to say four things say i love you, i'm things say i love you, i'm sorry, please -- i forgive you sorry, please -- i forgive you and thank you. and thank you. that's really it. that's really it. you can do it in 140 characters. you can do it in 140 characters. you can communicate who you are you can communicate who you are and what you're going through and what you're going through and think about it we share all and think about it we share all of our experiences of our lives of our experiences of our lives on facebook, this chapter we are on facebook, this chapter we are supposed to stop sharing because supposed to stop sharing because you might get upset. you might get upset. i i don't think so. don't think so. >> reporter: justin one amazing >> reporter: justin one amazing thing with the video is people thing with the video is people have expectation that it's going have expectation that it's going to be sad and turns out to be to be sad and turns out to be inspiring and empowering. inspiring and empowering. was that a pleasant surprise for was that a pleasant surprise for you when you embarked on the you when you embarked on the journey or did you suspect that? journey or did you suspect that? >> that was the mission of the

>> that was the mission of the journey to make it positive and journey to make it positive and inspiring and see if we could inspiring and see if we could make the topic of death make the topic of death something that actually something that actually encouraged people to live encouraged people to live better. better. and to smile more and to laugh and to smile more and to laugh more because the thing is we all more because the thing is we all have one thing in common and have one thing in common and that is we are all going to die. that is we are all going to die. so why are we waiting to be so why are we waiting to be happy? happy? like they are? like they are? why are we waiting to, you know, why are we waiting to, you know, do all the things we really want do all the things we really want to do. to do. we should do them now and we should do them now and calling our mom and sisters and calling our mom and sisters and brothers and mending brothers and mending relationships and should be relationships and should be meeting people the street and meeting people the street and you know leaving our legacy you know leaving our legacy behind every single day. behind every single day. and that is why it has become so and that is why it has become so popular and why it's joyful popular and why it's joyful because we are not focusing on because we are not focusing on the dying part but the the dying part but the living living part which is the point of dying part which is the point of dying that reminds us we have to that reminds us we have to live. live. >> reporter: david, go ahead. >> reporter: david, go ahead. >> three responses to a terminal >> three responses to a terminal diagnosis and we have people who diagnosis and we have people who get depressed and disengaged get depressed and disengaged from others and another from others and another group i group i

they that fight it to few till they that fight it to few till till that is sad and a group till that is sad and a group like the show tonight who are in like the show tonight who are in to living and not dying and you to living and not dying and you know it is know it is what it is. what it is. and that is what we are doing and that is what we are doing but we need to get those people but we need to get those people who are depressed to get on to who are depressed to get on to social media as well. social media as well. >> well, david and deborah i am >> well, david and deborah i am making the point that social making the point that social media provides a source of media provides a source of support and people who feel support and people who feel families are burning could find families are burning could find an out let here and a comment an out let here and a comment from from lizzy. lizzy. >> a pop up event where people >> a pop up event where people get together to talk about death get together to talk about death and eat delicious cake and the and eat delicious cake and the cafe movement dispels the myth cafe movement dispels the myth that people don't want to talk that people don't want to talk about death and i brought the about death and i brought the concept to the united states in concept to the united states in july of 2012 and since then july of 2012 and since then death cafes have popped up in death cafes have popped up in over 34 states and over 100 over 34 states and over 100 cities. cities. death cafe is no agenda, no death cafe is no agenda, no ideology, just open and honest ideology, just open and honest

dying. dying. >> and david i want to go over >> and david i want to go over this because you wanted to chime this because you wanted to chime in, critique of social media is in, critique of social media is it has superficial friends and it has superficial friends and connections and nothing like connections and nothing like face-to-face conversations when face-to-face conversations when it comes to building empathy and it comes to building empathy and community, what is the community, what is the response response to that critique? to that critique? >> i think that is changing and >> i think that is changing and we are finding we can connect we are finding we can connect very well. very well. and if you think about it, when and if you think about it, when a person is dying and they reach a person is dying and they reach out to try to connect and you out to try to connect and you say don't talk that way, you say don't talk that way, you will focus on getting better, we will focus on getting better, we leave them alone. leave them alone. we isolate them. we isolate them. and if i can reach out and find and if i can reach out and find another soul the better. another soul the better. and you know our fear is if i and you know our fear is if i really look at the facts some really look at the facts some day i'm going to day, some day day i'm going to day, some day you are going to die and some you are going to die and some day we all will day we think it day we all will day we think it will depress us but when i let will depress us but when i let it in it makes me get deeper in it in it makes me get deeper in the moment and connect with you the moment and connect with you and serve people better and let and serve people better and let me take this life in. me take this life in. >> reporter: do you find there >> reporter: do you find there are barriers that come down when

are barriers that come down when you are having these you are having these conversations online and people conversations online and people feel more at ease when asking feel more at ease when asking questions that you may not questions that you may not exactly know how to phrase exactly know how to phrase face-to-face? face-to-face? >> people are forthcoming and >> people are forthcoming and just encouraged to talk just encouraged to talk about about things that they thought about things that they thought about with having their illness. with having their illness. one thing that i can't, you one thing that i can't, you know, social media is not know, social media is not going going anywhere. anywhere. you know, we are only just in you know, we are only just in the beginning stage of this kind the beginning stage of this kind of technology in our lives. of technology in our lives. and i think the more humanely we and i think the more humanely we weave it into what we experience weave it into what we experience in a natural way, in a way that in a natural way, in a way that doesn't feel forced n a way that doesn't feel forced n a way that is an extension of our is an extension of our personality, then worries about personality, then worries about taboo and about death and taboo and about death and etiquette and questions like etiquette and questions like that will cease to be relevant. that will cease to be relevant. >> reporter: you know, i think >> reporter: you know, i think unless you have experienced a unless you have experienced a

virtual hug in the midst of a virtual hug in the midst of a crisis, you probably don't crisis, you probably don't understand it. understand it. but i have been fortunate enough but i have been fortunate enough to experience that, the very day to experience that, the very day we received bad we received bad news and as i news and as i shared that with my friends and shared that with my friends and they all the weeks and weeks they all the weeks and weeks wonderful. wonderful. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> it is wonderful. >> it is wonderful. and there and there is nothing superficial is nothing superficial about the connections that about the connections that people make in what i call a people make in what i call a disease community or an illness disease community or an illness community. community. in fact, you will find that when in fact, you will find that when we meet each other in person, we meet each other in person, the getting to know you process the getting to know you process is actually accelerated. is actually accelerated. i have very rarely connected i have very rarely connected with someone online that i met with someone online that i met them in person and then been them in person and then been disappointed. disappointed. every single time it has been every single time it has been like wow, it's you, i'm so glad like wow, it's you, i'm so glad to meet you. to meet you. >> reporter: you already know >> reporter: you already know each other. each other. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> reporter: so what happens >> reporter: so what happens when the blogging and the when the blogging and the

tweeting stop and you learn that tweeting stop and you learn that the person with whom you have the person with whom you have been walking through this been walking through this journey has died? journey has died? how does it impact the grieving how does it impact the grieving process? process? we will tackle the online legacy we will tackle the online legacy next. next.

>> evey sunday night, >> evey sunday night, join us for exclusive, join us for exclusiv