What happens to your Facebook account after you die? If you want to keep it alive, you can choose a person to manage your profile when you re gone.
Those of us who have had Facebook friends die know the person s profile essentially gets frozen in time, or memorialized. Last year, Facebook changed some policies to answer questions about what happens to our accounts after our deaths. For example, our chosen privacy settings apply posthumously. Our loved ones can request Look Back videos.
Now, Facebook is rolling out an option that will allow U.S. users to designate a legacy contact who can make the following changes to someone s memorialized account: Write a post to display at the top of a memorialized timeline; respond to new friend requests; and update the profile picture and cover photo. Users can also choose to allow their Facebook heir to download an archive of their photos, posts and profile information.
Until now, when someone passed away, we offered a basic memorialized account which was viewable, but could not be managed by anyone, the company said in its announcement today. 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.
Designated Facebook legacy contacts won t be able to post as the deceased, and won t have access to their friend or loved one s messages.
To access the option, go to Settings, choose Security, then Legacy Contact.
Another example of a company giving users some control over what happens to their online lives after death is Google s Inactive Account Manager. Launched a couple of years ago, the tool lets you choose to have your data deleted, or have it forwarded to loved ones.
Above example of memorialized timeline from Facebook
