This month we cover the tricky ( and not very happy) subject of what happens to your social media account when you die. I know, none of us like to think about it but one of the things that does upset me is seeing Facebook notifications (birthdays etc.) from the accounts of people that I know have passed away. It’s a sad reminder that things carry on regardless of whether we’re around or not but if you decide what you want to happen before the event then at least your loved ones can close your accounts when you’ve gone.
Facebook offer the facility to have someone you trust inform them that you’ve died, and they will then be allowed to manage your account going forward, they call it “Memorialization settings”. You can grant them a number of permissions, everything from simply allowing them to close your account, through to managing it on an ongoing basis (managing tribute posts for example) and even downloading your post and video’s and you can do this without giving out your current Facebook password.
In order to setup this service you need to do the following…
1. Logon to Facebook
2. Click the little arrow next to your profile picture
3. Choose “settings and privacy”
4. Choose “settings”
5. Click “Memorialization settings”
…from here you can either select a Facebook use that you want to be your “Legacy Contact” (if you use this option then this person will be able to manage your account after you’ve shuffled off this mortal coil), or alternatively you can choose the option “Request account deletion” and your account will simply be deleted in the event of Facebook being informed of your death.
In the case of informing Facebook of a death (they don’t like to use such words, so they call it “Memorialisation request“) you simply need to visit the URL
https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/234739086860192
and complete the online form, they will do the rest.