But what about your social media
profiles? Unless you've shared your passwords, your family or significant other
will likely be locked out of your accounts.
Facebook has been grappling with
this issue for a number of years; in 2009, it allowed people to turn the
profiles of deceased users into memorial pages. But Facebook is now adding a
new option that users can select prior to their death: a legacy contact.
Pick your "legacy
contact" wisely: Be it a family member or friend, they'll be able to post
announcements and messages on your memorialized timeline, respond to new friend
requests, and update your profile picture and cover photo.
Facebook Legacy ContactIf you're
really trusting, you can also give permission for them to download an archive
of photos, updates, and profile information shared via your account.
Facebook also redesigned memorial
profiles by adding the word "Remembering" above the deceased's name
and will allow a legacy contact to pin a post to the top of their timeline.
Other settings, however, will
remain as you left them. The legacy contact, according to Facebook, will not be
able to log in as the deceased, or see their private messages.
On the other hand, if you'd rather
your social media life die along with you, just put in a request for your
Facebook account to be permanently deleted after death.
"Until now, when someone passed away, we offered a basic
memorialized account which was viewable, but could not be managed by
anyone," the Facebook team wrote in a blog post. "By talking to
people who have experienced loss, we realized there is more we can do to
support those who are grieving and those who want a say in what happens to
their account after death."
Visit the Facebook settings page
to choose a legacy contact. Tap Security, then Legacy Contact at the bottom of
the page.
You can also send a message to
your chosen contact: "Since you know me well and I trust you, I choose
you. Please let me know if you want to talk about this."
The optional feature is rolling
out slowly to U.S. residents first, before expanding to more countries.
Post a Comment