Two decades after the Internet explosion throughout the world, there is a pronounced difference between the reality that existed before and the one we have nowadays. It is possible to say, without risk of exaggeration, that the Internet transformed almost every single part of human life. Among the immeasurable resources available in the Internet are the possibilities of making friends and maintaining friendships, as well as fighting, studying, buying, flirting, complaining of companies or services, arguing, dating and chatting. These things can all be done thanks to resources such as emails, chats, websites in general, blogs and, more recently, social network sites. Social network sites (as Orkut and Facebook) have become very popular during the last decade, especially among youngsters. Among the many social network sites available, Orkut is preferred by the Brazilians, who usually use it to interact with each other sending messages, sharing pictures and joining communities. However, some have been using Orkut for a different purpose, which surprisingly has become increasingly common. These are bereaved people who have been using Orkut to send messages to others who are dead, and whose profiles were kept active. Aiming to comprehend this new behavior, this thesis incorporates a bibliographic review and also a field research. In the bibliographic review, death conceptions, behaviors and rituals related to death are approached historically and sociologically. From the psychological standpoint, the different stages of grief, factors that can endanger the evolution of this process and indicators that grief has ended are presented. The field research is composed by 15 interviews with those who write messages in profiles of deceased family members or friends. The analysis of these interviews demonstrates that, in the first moment of grief, the deceased s profile is perceived as a part of the dead person, causing the sensation of being close to him/her. This perception makes the bereaved have the sensation that they can communicate with the deceased, compelling them to leave messages on his/her profile. Doing so brings momentary relief for the sorrow experienced by the bereaved. Thence, they consider Orkut as an avenue to help relieve the pain of losing a loved one. As time passes, they get more resigned with the loss, which results in fewer profile visits and even rarer posting of messages. The profile becomes, then, just one place of nice memories, where people eventually go when they want to remember the deceased.