Facebook Offers New Feature: Choose Who Will Run Your Page When You Die

Monica Sanchez | February 13, 2015
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When a person passes away, their Facebook page becomes a memorial of sorts. Friends and relatives often visit the account pages of their lost loved ones to look at photos, post memories and offer their best wishes for the individual’s repose.

Now, members can choose a “legacy contact”—whether it be a friend or relative—to manage their account when they pass away, Facebook announced Thursday.

The popular social media platform explains,

“Once someone lets us know that a person has passed away, we will memorialize the account and the legacy contact will be able to:

  • Write a post to display at the top of the memorialized Timeline (for example, to announce a memorial service or share a special message)
  • Respond to new friend requests from family members and friends who were not yet connected on Facebook
  • Update the profile picture and cover photo”

The chosen one will be able to write a post (not as you), manage friend requests, and update your profile and cover photos.

Once you decide whom to leave responsible for your account, you can leave that person a message.

You can also give your legacy contact permission to download an archive of your posts, photos, and profile information. Your private messages, however, remain private.

Once a person passes away, the word, “Remembering,” appears above his or her name, indicating that the profile is now “memorialized” in tribute to the deceased.

According to BuzzFeed, “Facebook formerly would freeze members’ accounts when they died, which angered some who wanted access to their relative’s page.” 

Having a legacy contact would hypothetically solve that issue.

If interested, Facebook members can set up the new feature by going to their Security settings.

Setup, while encouraged, is completely optional. 

Alternatively, people can let Facebook know if they’d prefer to have their account permanently deleted posthumously.

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