At some point I figured that this had to be a metaphorical connection to everything else in life people love and cannot change. I also was thinking about how when Beethoven died and tens of thousands of people came out for his funeral. I think that personalized remembrances that illustrate the "why" behind the connection make it easier to swallow - but I don't think our social media really encourages such detail and so on.
I think it's easy to be jaded about social media when a sizable percentage of people consider overlaying a flag on their profile picture a thoughtful act. Social media encourages frivolity and attention seeking. Of course that doesn't mean that many people aren't genuinely moved....I don't think our social media really encourages such detail and so on.