I feel like if you were directly impacted by somebody's achievements in life, then it's okay to put up a RIP status. Like when Harold Ramis died, we all watched and loved Ghostbusters, I think it's appropriate/okay to say your goodbyes on social media in that case. Maya Angelou on the other hand, most people have heard of her, but I doubt that a very large percentage have actually read one of her books. I would imagine lots of people in situations like that are just trying to enhance their image by pretending that they were interested in this person's life work, when really they are too simple or lazy to have bothered to pick up a rough ridin' book.