Here is an interesting bit of trivia for you. What happens to your FaceBook account if you die before cancelling it? Answer: Nothing. You FaceBook pages will literally stay active forever, or at least until the Internet itself passes into oblivion.
I hope you will not find this a morbid post, but this information was very interesting to me. With FaceBook now being an internationally used social medium, there are millions, if not billions, of users. I do not pretend to know how many people around the world use FaceBook, and I am not going to do the research. But I have found that FaceBook itself estimates that around 8000 (that's EIGHT THOUSAND!!) users die each day. The vast majority of those who die have made no arrangements to close their accounts. Thus, your loved one's account will live on via the Internet, even outliving YOU! This is true for YOUR account as well.
Here is some more trivia. FaceBook estimates that there are over thirty million (30,000,000) accounts belonging to deceased persons, and these accounts are still active! No, errant souls are not posting from beyond the grave, but the accounts are still active because only the owners can cancel them. And most dead people do not have access to computers. Why do not relatives simply suspend their loved one's account? They CAN'T! FaceBook privacy and access policies do not allow anyone other than the owner to take such action. I do not know what the dead do to occupy their time, but I am reasonably certain FaceBook and the Internet are not two of their higher priorities. Meanwhile, their accounts live on.
I suppose FaceBook could solve this problem by eliminating all accounts that receive no new posts within a certain period of time, but there is a problem with this. If a deceased person is on one's "friends" list, the deceased person's account will continue to receive updates, thus keeping the dead person's account active. On top of that, the various advertisements that target us (and ANNOY us) because of our "interests" on the Internet (shopping, surfing, YouTube, etc.) will continue to target a deceased person's account. The result would be that deceased persons would continue to receive updates and status checks, so their accounts potentially would never...well...die.
FaceBook also faces another issue. There are relatives of deceased FaceBook users who do not want Facebook to strike their loved ones' accounts, and FaceBook is aware of this. There is major outrage with users ever time someone even JOKES that FaceBook will start charging a user fee (which they have every right to do - never mind our sense of "entitlement") to keep accounts open. Just imagine the outrage if FaceBook were to openly remove the accounts of deceased users. Talk about a PR gaff!!
Actually, not to worry. There are at least TWO things a FaceBook user can do "just in case." I know...no one wants to think about "just in case," but remember...over 8,000 users die every day, the world over. And we know that people are killed in car accidents every day, or on the job. And many people die of natural causes every day. If you want your FaceBook account to live on, I suppose you may simply do nothing. In the event of your passing from this earthly vale, your account will remain active. But suppose you want your FaceBook activity to cease when YOU do. The simplest way to assure your account "rests in peace" with you (although this idea might TERRIFY some people) is to leave your password with one or two trusted friends. Then, in the event of your death your friends would close your account for you. I know what you are thinking, and yes, they would be able to access your account. Ah, the risks we take just to live in this modern world!
If the idea of a friend having account level access to your FaceBook page frightens you, there is an alternative. FaceBook will allow an account holder to designate a "legacy contact" to manage the your account after your demise. That's right...a legacy contact. Someone you love and trust would be able to maintain your account as an Ememorial. Messages of respect, love, and sympathy could be added to the deceased user's page, and the legacy contact would be able to moderate these messages, including the elimination of messages that are objectionable for whatever reasons. The legacy contact would not have the ability to delete the deceased person's account unless that power was so-granted by the deceased..er...PRIOR to his or her demise.
Oh the wonders of this world. We have powers of attorney, wills, living wills, advance medical directives, and NOW...we have advanced directives...for FaceBook!! I guess wonders will never cease. Well, I have to go now. I have to line up a legacy contact!
And God Bless America
credit for information:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/what-happens-your-social-media-7801415
I hope you will not find this a morbid post, but this information was very interesting to me. With FaceBook now being an internationally used social medium, there are millions, if not billions, of users. I do not pretend to know how many people around the world use FaceBook, and I am not going to do the research. But I have found that FaceBook itself estimates that around 8000 (that's EIGHT THOUSAND!!) users die each day. The vast majority of those who die have made no arrangements to close their accounts. Thus, your loved one's account will live on via the Internet, even outliving YOU! This is true for YOUR account as well.
Here is some more trivia. FaceBook estimates that there are over thirty million (30,000,000) accounts belonging to deceased persons, and these accounts are still active! No, errant souls are not posting from beyond the grave, but the accounts are still active because only the owners can cancel them. And most dead people do not have access to computers. Why do not relatives simply suspend their loved one's account? They CAN'T! FaceBook privacy and access policies do not allow anyone other than the owner to take such action. I do not know what the dead do to occupy their time, but I am reasonably certain FaceBook and the Internet are not two of their higher priorities. Meanwhile, their accounts live on.
I suppose FaceBook could solve this problem by eliminating all accounts that receive no new posts within a certain period of time, but there is a problem with this. If a deceased person is on one's "friends" list, the deceased person's account will continue to receive updates, thus keeping the dead person's account active. On top of that, the various advertisements that target us (and ANNOY us) because of our "interests" on the Internet (shopping, surfing, YouTube, etc.) will continue to target a deceased person's account. The result would be that deceased persons would continue to receive updates and status checks, so their accounts potentially would never...well...die.
FaceBook also faces another issue. There are relatives of deceased FaceBook users who do not want Facebook to strike their loved ones' accounts, and FaceBook is aware of this. There is major outrage with users ever time someone even JOKES that FaceBook will start charging a user fee (which they have every right to do - never mind our sense of "entitlement") to keep accounts open. Just imagine the outrage if FaceBook were to openly remove the accounts of deceased users. Talk about a PR gaff!!
Actually, not to worry. There are at least TWO things a FaceBook user can do "just in case." I know...no one wants to think about "just in case," but remember...over 8,000 users die every day, the world over. And we know that people are killed in car accidents every day, or on the job. And many people die of natural causes every day. If you want your FaceBook account to live on, I suppose you may simply do nothing. In the event of your passing from this earthly vale, your account will remain active. But suppose you want your FaceBook activity to cease when YOU do. The simplest way to assure your account "rests in peace" with you (although this idea might TERRIFY some people) is to leave your password with one or two trusted friends. Then, in the event of your death your friends would close your account for you. I know what you are thinking, and yes, they would be able to access your account. Ah, the risks we take just to live in this modern world!
If the idea of a friend having account level access to your FaceBook page frightens you, there is an alternative. FaceBook will allow an account holder to designate a "legacy contact" to manage the your account after your demise. That's right...a legacy contact. Someone you love and trust would be able to maintain your account as an Ememorial. Messages of respect, love, and sympathy could be added to the deceased user's page, and the legacy contact would be able to moderate these messages, including the elimination of messages that are objectionable for whatever reasons. The legacy contact would not have the ability to delete the deceased person's account unless that power was so-granted by the deceased..er...PRIOR to his or her demise.
Oh the wonders of this world. We have powers of attorney, wills, living wills, advance medical directives, and NOW...we have advanced directives...for FaceBook!! I guess wonders will never cease. Well, I have to go now. I have to line up a legacy contact!
And God Bless America
credit for information:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/what-happens-your-social-media-7801415
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