Social Media After Death

As I have previously discussed, there is a growing concern for managing social media assets after death. According to Mashable, if the deceased had a Facebook page hisaccount profile can take one of four routes. One route is leaving the profileunaccessed and unreported letting the typical account activity continue.However, if the family discloses the death to Facebook, Facebook will changethe deceased timeline to a ‘memorial page.’ Family members can also petition Facebook to deactivate the deceased’s account. Last, access to a profile may be gainedthrough either knowledge of the deceased’s password or through a court order.Courts do not typically grant access to the profile accounts due to Facebook’sprivacy policy.

For some Facebook has become a way to mourn their loved ones death. Nonetheless, others feel because there loved one is gone there is noreason to keep their profile up. Some grief therapists believe that leaving thesocial media page up can help ease some of the pain of losing a loved one.Other families seek clues or closure after the death of a loved one and ask foraccess to her Facebook page. Facebook’s policies and various state laws makethe transfer of access to the profile after death unlikely.

Some Facebook users are planning what will happen to theironline information postmortem. Different agencies such as Entrust.net and My Wonderful Life, canhelp people plan for what will happen to their digital assets after death. In fact, Facebookrecently added an application allowing users to record a last wish then choosea ‘trustee’ to publish it when the person passes. 

See Stephanie Buck, How 1 Billion People are Coping with Death and Facebook, Mashable, Feb. 13, 2013.