THE Internet offers us an alternative social life. While we cannot be in two places at the same time, we can be on several websites at once. The all too human desire to be known and accepted by others is evident in the popularity of social networking websites.

Hazel Danielle Santos, a 27-year-old Filipina based in Lausanne, Switzerland, was a constant presence in several online forums such as Highfiber.org. She also had an account on Plurk.com.

Known as harley_quinn on Plurk, she posted a message on Oct. 12, which, it turned out, would be her last: “[harley_quinn] is the HAPPIEST WOMAN on earth today!”

She then said that her boyfriend had proposed to her in front of her parents, while visiting a historic place in Lausanne.

Strachan, her boyfriend, had pulled the ring out of the town’s old cannon and proposed. How could a girl say no?

Her father was so happy for her that he ordered in advance 500 bottles of personalized Bordeaux wine for the wedding. But—good things end too soon.

According to an e-mail from Hazel’s cousin, on the dawn of Oct. 13, Hazel and Strachan were driving back home from their engagement party when they met an accident. The car, what remained of it, was not located until hours later after a motorist reported seeing the wreck.

Hazel was a vivacious character online, and through these venues she had made many friends. Most of these people she had never met, but when the tragic news reached them, the response was overwhelming. Her death was so sudden, people couldn’t believe it.

On Plurk, you earn karma points for posting regularly. But with Hazel now gone, her karma was sure to dwindle. One of her online friends, thegreatest, appealed to Plurk management through the website Get Satisfaction (http://getsatisfaction.com).

“I know this is a long shot, but we have a plurker who just recently passed away… it is heartbreaking to see her plurk karma slowly trickle down. We were wondering if you can somehow freeze it, so we can remember her the way she was through her plurks.”

Amir Salihefendi from Plurk replied immediately. He offered his condolences to Hazel’s family: “We have stalled her karma drops and have given her a karma of infinity. May she rest in peace.”

Plurk has kept its word, and when you visit Hazel’s Plurk page (http://plurk.com/harley_quinn) you can see the symbol of infinity in place of karma points, a symbol that very well represents Hazel’s presence in the hearts of the people she let into her life.

E-mail the author at redjeulle@yahoo.com