What happens to social media accounts after people pass? Are accounts just deleted? And who, among your grieving family, will think through how to handle your social media accounts? Luckily, many social media companies have asked this question and offer you solutions you can enable today which will activate after you pass.
Facebook has created a solution with Facebook Memorial Pages. This allows people to choose how they are remembered in the hearts of their friends and families. People can visit their page and remember times when they were together, allowing a unique record of life. Rather than an obituary, which is written by somebody else, a memorialized Facebook account is a record of life, of friends, of thoughts, and of experiences, many which were posted in the moment. It’s a snapshot of life and memories.
These pages are distinct from other Facebook pages, with “Remembering” stated before the person’s name. This allows family and friends to share memories and engage with one another.
Memorialized Facebook pages don’t appear in public spaces, such as ads or birthday reminders, so it can be avoided or perused at a friend’s discretion, allowing them to grieve at their own pace.
Many of these accounts are managed by a Legacy Contact, a person chosen by the original account holder to oversee the account. They can manage posts, change the visibility, update the profile and banner pictures, and respond to friend requests. This allows them to keep your page pristine after you’re gone, creating or deleting posts or tags as needed. They are unable to edit your past posts or photos, read your messages, or delete your friends; this is not a way for them to replace you. Rather, the Legacy Contact is there to keep an eye on the page and connect with family and friends.
A Legacy Contact can be added or changed easily on your Facebook account, under the Memorialization Settings tab.
Other social media accounts can allow similar memorial or legacy options. Google allows you to designate who should have access to your account, called an Inactive Account Manager, in the event of your death. Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest also have various versions of memorial or legacy accounts that can be accessed by searching for memorial options on their websites.
However, another option is to simple make a social media plan part of your end-of-life planning. Simply create a Digital Legacy Plan for your loved ones that includes all your social media accounts, with your login information. Also, include information about your wishes about what they should do with each of your social media accounts after you are gone.
Regardless of which option you chose, by planning ahead, it will assure you that your social media accounts will be handled exactly how you wished!