It sounds like a cliché, but there is nothing more certain: the only certainty we have in life is that we are going to die. Everyone. Without exception. When someone died before, their personal data was removed from the Post Office, so as not to continue receiving correspondence. Now, with our data scattered on social networks, things get complicated. What about our accounts on Instagram, Twitter ... or Facebook, which is the most used social network around the world?
Relatively recently, Facebook pulled the 'Commemorative Account' up its sleeve. This means that if one dies, their account can remain open , being managed by a legacy contact. A legacy contact is a person, generally trusted, who will manage your account after you have passed away. Without anticipating more, we are going to detail how the commemorative Facebook account works.
How the commemorative Facebook account works
How to choose between commemorative account or delete it
A commemorative account, as we have said before, is a tribute account that is made from the account of a person who has passed away. We can all convert our user into a commemorative account, if we wish. Fortunately, Facebook also allows the account to be closed permanently without the need to request any legacy contact.
To decide what to do with your account once you have died, you have to enter your Facebook settings. You have the configuration menu at the top of your account. Once here, select, in General, 'Manage your account'.
Here you can choose between two options :
- Choose the legacy contact. The legacy contact is a person, generally trusted, who will manage your account after you have died. You can pin a post to your account, change your profile photo and cover photo, or respond to new friend requests. A message will be sent to your legacy contact once your account has been commemorated. If you want them to be notified in advance, you must tell them yourself.
- Delete the account permanently. If you do not want, in any way, your account to remain open once you die, choose this option. Facebook will take care of deleting it from the map permanently.
What to do if you are chosen as a legacy contact
It can happen to you. A Facebook friend can choose you as a legacy contact. And now, you must decide what to do: whether to continue with the account or decline any responsibility.
If you decide that you should honor the memory of your contact and keep the account, you should go to their cover photo and click on 'Manage'. In the menu on the left of your account, you can add a post as a post, respond to friend requests, and change your profile and cover photos. No one will be able to log into a memorial account, not even your legacy contact.
If, on the other hand, you do not want to be that person's legacy contact, this is where Facebook enters a tremendous paradox. According to his help page, if you do not want to be that person's legacy, verbatim, "we suggest you let him know by sending him a message or speaking with him in person ." But how to send a message to someone who has passed away? Remember that the accounts become commemorative once the user dies and Facebook is informed of it. The best way to do this is to use common sense: let your future legacy contact know that you will be.