al jazeera. >> we have lots more on that and everything else that we have been covering here on al jazeera on our website. there it is. al jazeera.com. you can see our top story there forced the crisis in eastern ukraine.

>> you does social media have a place in death and dying. we have author of the book" you can heal your heart." on skype, justin, creator of the series my last days based on those who are terminally ill but refuse to give up on life. and debby and david oliver, and jodie joins us. cancer advocate with stage four breast cancer who helped create the #bcsm.

we have seen the acknowledging of the passing of others on social media but where are we seeing more on the discussion of terminal illness, death even more now on social media. >> thank you for having me on the show. i appreciate it. i don't think we knew what our great grandparents knew. we don't know how to talk about it any more. we live in a world where the dead go around in white unmarked advance. we have a new town square. social media is the new town square. >> what is it about our culture that our grandparents had it different than we did. >> we're so youth oriented that depth is o option. but there is something primal that death must be witnessed. we want our lives witnessed, our death witnessed and our grief

witnessed. >> you decided to do a series called "my last days." why did you do that? >> you know, i was looking around and we tend to procrastinate in everything in life, especially my generation, and i didn't think we should procrastinate living the life that we want to live. it i made death a messenger of joy for me. maybe i can inspire people to live the life they're meant to be living, and not make death so at a to you, make it inspiring. that's how the show was created. >> you're mentions not making death at taboo. mark just tweeted in:

>> amy said: >> this is a trending article, and thanks to the images here that are captured in a photo shoot for the haves and have not. actor john schneider taken by photographer jeremy. this was taken an hour after he discovered that his father had died. speaking about sharing we have this blog by our guests david and debra. david is a cancer video blog. you have shared this journey with all of america. what have you learned about the empathy that this has engeneralled? >> i think it's amazing. our blog has had over 81,000 hits. you know, none of us get out of this alive. that's true all over the world. it's amazing how many people

respond and say, you know, you're teaching us things physicians and nurses never told us about what happens during chemotherapy and radiation, especially the side-effects. we just love your youtube blogs. >> jodie, you started bcsm. you have a huge online community of breast cancer survivors, breast cancer patients. how do you think that social media is changing the way we look at these issues? >> it's absolutely remarkable in the way that we can now connect with someone that is affected with the same disease whether it be primary or met static incurable cancer as i have. you may have looked before for months to find someone who has what you have. now you will you have to do is get on the bcsm hashtag and you

can be talking to 30, 40 women right off the bat, and it's a phenomenal job of connecting people. that's what people need, to be able to understand and relate to other people. >> are there draw backs? >> we perceive that there would be, but there really isn't. people are much kinder than you would expect them to be online. we can be crew online but not true around this topic. we're hungry for information. i can tell you lecturing over the world, grief.com, all these things. it is about the connection. we yearn for it. >> the social media is our lifeline for ill people. and justin you are the creator

of last days. you know something that i'm curious about. these people that you talked to, the people you interviewed, families of those who have passed away. going through the final days. what is really important? in life to those who are near the brink of death. >> they have all said the same thing. it's about family. it's about love. it's about experiences. and it's really just about connection. all the material wants and needs are gone and it's about the moment that you're in now. it's like you're almost made clean. you're passed from everything in this world. it's always the same which is really, really interesting. >> i couldn't agree more, justin. living in the moment. right now, this is everything. i don't worry about yesterday, and i don't even think about

tomorrow. if i live really well today, then every yesterday is a dream of happiness and every tomorrow is a vision of hope. so i look forward to this day every day. >> i love you. [ laughing ] >> there is something about that. when we look that the topic, that he we're going to be sad and depressed. it's the opposite. we feel more alive than ever when we really don't cut off this part of our lives. >> there is something about it still obviously that makes me misty, well, i do know what we are iitis. we're talking about death and dying. how do you talk about dying online? is there etiquette? weigh in on twitter. we'll be right back.

we all have one thing in common, we're all going to die. why are we waiting? to be happy. like they are. why are we waiting to do all the things that we want to do. we should be doing them now. we should be coloring mom, sisters and brothers, mending relationships. we should be meeting people on the street, and moving our legacy every single day. that's why it's become so popular. that's why it's joyful. we're not focusing on the dying part. we're focusing on the living part. it reminds us that we have to live. >> go ahead. >> three major responses to

terminal diagnosis. we have those people who get depressed and disengage from others. there is another group that fight it with futility, which is sad. and then the group like you're having on the show tonight who are into living, and not dying. you know, it is what it is. that's what we're doing. but we need to get those people who are depressed to get on to social media as well. >> i want to make this point. social media provides a source of support. people who feel their families can find an outlet here. >> where people get together to talk about death and eat delicious cake. the popularity of the death cafe movement dispels the myth that people don't want to talk about death. i brought death cafe to the united states in july 2012, and

since then death cafes have popped up in over 34 states and 100 cities. death cafes have no agenda, no ideology. just open, honest conversations about death and dying often the recreek of social media is that it creates these superficial friends and superficial connections, and there is nothing like face-to-face conversations when it comes to building community and empathy. what is the response to that critique? >> that's changing. i think we're finding that we can connect very well. when a person is dying and they reach out to try to connect. you say don't talk that way. you're going to focus on getting better. we leave them alone. we isolate them. if i can reach out and find another soul, the better. our fear is if i really look at the facts some day i'm going to die. we're all going to die, we think it's going to depress us. the reality is when i let that

in, it let's me go deeper in this moment. let me connect with you, serve people better. let me take this life in. >> do you find that there are barriers coming down when you have these conversations online? people feel more at ease when asking questions that you may not exactly know how to phrase face to face? >> people are forthcoming and just encouraged to talk about things that they thought about with having their illness. one thing that i can--social media isn't going anywhere. we're only if in just the beginning stage of this kind of technology in our lives i think the more we humanely we've it in a natural experience, the way that is it's an extension of our personal, worries about death

will sees to be relevant. >> i think unless you've experienced virtual hug in the midst of a crisis, you probably don't understand it. but you've been fortunate enough to experience that. the very day we received bad news and as i shared that with my friends and they all--all day, for weeks, virtual hugs. it was wonderful. >> it is wonderful, and there is nothing superficial will the connections that people make in what i call a disease community or illness community. in fact, you will find that when we meet each other in children the getting to know you process is accelerated. i've rarely connected with someone online and then met them in person and been disappointed.

every time it's been wow, it's you. i'm so glad to meet you. >> because you already know each other. what happens when the blogging and the tweeting stops and the person you have tweeting with has died. we'll talk more next.

>> representing the end of my journey, but then that represents the starting point of another journey for everyone else. what a wonderful purpose then to have. >> the message, legacy is one that i think has already touched so many people around the world.

>> welcome back. we're talking about social media and it's place in the discussion of death and dying. david, i was talking to my interview producer earlier today. she booked all of our guests for this show. she said it was such an emotional experience because she would find great blog, post or tweet online and then call that person, only to find out they had passed away a couple of days ago. she said it was haunting and fascinating at the same time because it was so eternal to have their message and photos right there. what is the effect of this online legacy once people have passed. >> many thought it would be negative. i'm amazed at the people who have shared. they love there is a legacy of their loved one. they loved going through their last days.

it helps them feel like their loved one lived and is remembered and honored. >> and our community has been tweeting. social media is good. it can aid those grieving by giving support to those who cannot otherwise attain it. it can make you feel less alone having a representativ represenf someone after they have gone helps with the grieving process. and david, may you have a long life, my friend. right now you're battling honorbly terminal cancer, and debby same question to you. how will you be using social media right now and in the future to connect with this community that you've developed and honor the man who is to your left? >> i think its important that we continue to document this journey.

i've been in hospice care for years. i was a director, and now i do research in that area. and the lack of knowledge that people have about how beautiful this experience can be. people will think this is crazy but this has been one of our best years of our lives. we've traveled all over and we're free of responsibilities that you can get bogged down in. my goal is to continue to document this. i know it's going to get harder especially as david gets more frail and less able to contribute, and then more of the burden falls on me. how i do that in the bereavement is going to be more challenging. our family is committed to this. our kids have joined in this process well. and it has brought mission and meaning, and, indeed, it will be honoring david with what we do, and it's a legacy that we leave for our grandchildren. >> and a beautiful legacy and a beautiful note to end the show on. this is all that w the time we r

this discussion. to all of our guests, than thanu for sharing your stories. until next time we'll see you online. . >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. here are the stories we're following right now. a showdown in ukraine. a pro russian activists refuse to leave government buildings. >> a ball of fire. everyone screaming. >> witnesses are saying about the fedex truck that hit a bus filled with teens.