So…you’re going to die eventually, but you better first select an heir apparent for your Facebook profile. Even thinking about one’s demise may be quite morose, but it’s a necessary fact of life.
Although most legal experts will concur that every person should create a will, especially if you have a husband/wife and/or children, hoards of Internet users may first establish a Facebook will before they take the necessary action of signing up for a real-life one.
In today’s world, the question isn’t so much as “what will happen when I die?” but rather “what will happen to my social media accounts when I die?” Facebook has found the solution to this by permitting users to select someone to manage their accounts posthumously – known as a legacy contact – while social network subscribers can also opt to delete their profiles entirely.
The new feature will begin Thursday in the United States and roll out in other countries in the near future.
Previously, Facebook would freeze accounts when it learned that the person had passed away. This move angered many relatives who wanted to take over the account and pay homage to their deceased family member or maintain a digital gravestone.
The digital hereafter has been talked about for years, but it wasn’t until 2013 that Google was the first Internet company to introduce digital heirs for its Google services, including Gmail and cloud storage.
How do you begin? According to Tech Crunch, users choose their legacy contact by hitting “settings,” clicking on “security” and choosing “Legacy Contact.” Once you choose the person then a pre-filled message will be sent to them informing this person that you have chosen them to handle your digital will – you can change the message to your liking. There is also an option of permitting the legacy contact to download a file of your entire profile, such as shared content, photos and status updates.
