Death is inevitable. Everyone alive has to die one day. And when you do, you online presence - like your social network profiles, your blog comments, your web services, etc. - will serve as your very first memorial. Here's how it'll play out.
Of the many alternatives of your online enitiy, Facebook will serve as the most important source. It is basically a one-stop for all your memories, timestamped comments, loads of personal info, and pictures. It's the first place acquaintances look after someone dies, and Facebook knows this. That's why they've got a healthy help section for the bereaved, which explains how one can deal with a dead profile.
Your Options
Report an account to be memorialized
Accounts can be turned into digital insta-memorials. This is a service Facebook actually offers:
Please report this information... so that we can memorialize this person's account. Memorializing the account removes certain more sensitive information like status updates and restricts profile access to confirmed friends only.
This is a safe option, since it gives the deceased a certain degree of privacy, without eliminating their memory forever. As depressing as it may sound, there's a form you can fill out for this.
Close the account (Memorialization FAQ)
We do honor requests from close family members to close the account completely.
If you make a special request (again through the form) you can have the account removed completely. You've pretty much gotta be someone's parent or spouse for this one, though.
Sue for access
Need to see your family member's Facebook profile, for closure? This treads well into some gray area, but it turns out, you can sort of do this. Sometimes.
Quoting Legacy Locker:
If your family is intent on gaining access to your Facebook account, they'll have to resort to legal action against Facebook. Not surprisingly, this is becoming increasingly more common...
The deceased was a young adult who had been hit by a drunk driver while on his motorcycle. The mother was aware that her son was a prolific Facebook user and wanted access as part of the grieving process. She wanted the ability to communicate with his friends and maintain the connection to her son. His virtual self was one of the key things she had left to remember him by.
The woman had access to her son's account, and it was only when Facebook realized the boy was dead that they revoked it. She sued to get it back, and eventually...
Facebook provided the parents an electronic snapshot of their son's Facebook page to see everything contained within it. This included all messages, wall postings and photographs. Facebook also permitted ongoing access to the public portion of the page. This is akin to the view that any "friend" would have of the page.
It's not a click-box choice, but it's an option.
Leave your login info behind
Write yourself a will, of sorts! Entrust someone close to you with your login info and instruction as to what to do with your profile. It might make for an awkward conversation now, but it'll be worth it.
So, that's what could happen to your profile after you've passed on, or, what you can do if a friend or family member has done the same. Any more info, or experience? Let everyone know in the comments.
Credits: Gizmodo, Legacy Locker
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