Article content
Are you curious what will remain of you on social networks after your death, or would you like to make the profile of a loved one who passed away a slightly more memorable place? The social network thinks about that too.
The death of a loved one is a difficult moment in everyone’s life.
But in the world of modern technologies a deceased person leaves an extensive digital footprint. And while a cute selfie and party photos may now seem entertaining, in the event of death that may no longer be the case.
Do you even have a chance to do anything about a deceased person’s profile without their password?
The Facebook Help Center offers a form through which you can report a deceased person, but also, for example, a long-term medically incapacitated user whose profile you’d like to handle differently. You can have it completely deleted, or submit a special request and perhaps only slightly modify the profile.
After submitting the form, the social network requires proof that you, as the reporter and requester, are indeed a close relative of the deceased or the executor of their will. You’ll have to wait a while for this to be verified before any change.
If you don’t want to delete the account but leave it as an eternal memorial to the deceased, Facebook will convert the person’s profile into a new form and so-called memorialize it. The word “Remembering” will appear next to the user’s name and a memorial timeline of their life will be created on their wall.
All content will remain intact, but it will only be shown to users with whom it was shared. Facebook will automatically stop showing birthday reminders and will stop offering the profile as a friend suggestion.
At the top of the page there’s also the option to add condolences and memories.
You can also decide in advance who will have the ability to manage your account in case something happens to you. In settings you can designate a legacy contact whom you trust and who can look after your memorialized account after your death. The chosen contact will not have normal access to your profile as you do now, but they can write a post on the profile, for example a final message or information about the funeral.
They can likewise change your profile and cover photo to better suit the memorial nature, and they can also moderate content created after death. However, they cannot remove people from your friends list or send new friend requests. To preserve the deceased’s privacy, they will not be able to read any of your private messages; the largest social network respects mailbox privacy even after death.
