In a Web-based world where Myspace, YouTube, Facebook, and Friendster reign king, it was only a matter of time until a Web site surfaced and fit in where these social networking sites are lacking. In actuality, Respectance.com is not that different from these other popular sites, except for one minor detail—it’s filled with deceased people’s profiles instead of the living’s. Though the topic matter may seem morbid, Respectance fits in smoothly as another necessary, albeit macabre, part of the user generated Web.

Colorful photos of smiling faces envelop one side of the open Web page, while a featured photo of recently deceased Bill Walsh—who coached the San Francisco 49ers—covers the center page. The site is filled with touching tributes dedicated to the deceased, posted by loved ones who want to pay respect and share stories. It is nearly impossible not to get teary eyed while browsing through the glossy photos and stories about those who have passed on, leaving loved ones behind to grieve.

Fittingly, Respectance was born from the most unfortunate of circumstances. After co-founder, Todd Wilkinson, was unable to attend his mother’s funeral, he yearned for a way to share the memories and photos that friends and family sent afterwards.

Wilkinson and co-founder, Richard Derks, started Respectance to give people a place to do just that, regardless of location. The site seems to be as much about the healing process of the living as it is about respecting the dead. Whether it be a tribute to a best friend, a mother, or even a famous celebrity, Respectance is one of the first social networking sites to platform this important aspect of life. There are others—including the morose mydeathspace.com, which contains news articles and obituaries,—but Respectance seems much more about celebrating the lives of the departed and the healing process of individuals, as opposed to online obituaries about how a person died. Respectance is one of the first Web sites to incorporate emo-social media—the amalgamation of media with related content—in order to present a conduit for emotional expression.

Respectance gives those going through the grieving process a place to network with others coping with the same emotions. People can connect with others through forums and special interest groups. Similar to user friendly Facebook or Myspace, Respectance is easy enough to use by any amateur Web user. Creating tribute pages, posting photos, videos, and stories are all easily accessible with Respectance’s idiot-proof tools. The result creates an interactive and improvised forum for the respected, and the respectees.

At first glance, Respectance may seem like a perverse Facebook for the dead, but it’s easy to see that it is truly a place for the living—and a respectable one. Derks sums it up well … “It’s not for the dead, but for the living to celebrate the lives of those who have passed away.”