Living in the 21st century means social media. But what happens to your, a friends, family or a loved one’s social media accounts after death?
A digital legacy is left behind, but not everyone wants that…
Seeing a social media account of someone who has passed away (whether recently or not) can be upsetting for grieving friends and relatives. That can then be made worse by automated updates and features which can occur on social media accounts; such as birthday posts that will still appear.
That said, other people may find it comforting to see old photos, video clips and memories of a friend or loved one; with the person almost living on forever in cyberspace. Either way, it’s important to know what can be done with social media accounts when someone dies.
“According to reports in 2016, around 8,000 Facebook users die daily, the equivalent of 428 every hour.” – The Sun.
Not all social media users are aware of what actions they can take to project their accounts in the event of their death; so, we are here to help!
Facebook:
At Facebook they are trying to make the whole process as simple as possible for social media users, providing two options: memorialise or delete.
If Facebook is made aware that a person has passed away, it’s their policy to automatically ‘memorialise’ the account (if you don’t choose to have your account permanently deleted).
If a social media account is memorialised it will allow friends, loved ones and family members to share memories of the deceased, and to also continue viewing their content.
The word ‘Remembering’ is displayed next to the person’s name. The deceased persons Facebook page is secure so no one can access it. (Facebook will never disclose someone’s log in details, even after their death.)
Memorialised profiles don’t appear in public spaces, such as suggestions for ‘People You May Know’, adverts or birthday reminders.
You can report for a profile to be memorialised here.
If you don’t want to ‘live forever in cyberspace’ the second option is to have your Facebook account deleted.
How to delete your Facebook account after death:
- From the top right of Facebook, click and select Settings.
- Click Memorialization Settings.
- Scroll down, click Request account deletion and click Delete After Death.
Users can a choose a friend or family member to become a ‘legacy contact‘ and take control of some aspects of their account after their death.
Legacy contacts post a final message on the profile and it is turned into a memorial where friends can post messages of remembrance and sympathy.
Unsuitable content can be moderated by the legacy contact.
You can find out even more about what will happen to your Facebook account if you pass away, visit here.
Twitter:
If a Twitter user dies it will “work with a person authorised to act on the behalf of the estate – or a verified immediate family member – to have an account deactivated…”
It is also possible to request the removal of a deceased user’s account, they will require:
- Your I.D (person making the request)
- Copy of the death certificate (deceased person)
That said, Twitter clearly states that it will not give access to a deceased user’s account regardless of the relationship to the user.
You can find out more about Twitter’s policy on what happens to the social media account when someone dies here!
Instagram:
When it comes to Instagram social media accounts, they are very similar to Facebook; the account can be memorialised, or removal can be requested.
If you see an account on Instagram that belongs to someone who’s passed away, you can report it for memorialisation.
If you’re an immediate family member of that person, you can request the account be removed from Instagram altogether.
To have an account removed, Instagram asks for verification that you are an immediate family member of the deceased. You can do so by providing the following:
- The deceased person’s birth certificate
- The deceased person’s death certificate
- Proof of authority under local law that you are the lawful representative of the deceased person, or his/her estate
To request that an account be removed, please fill out this form.
Like with other social platforms, Instagram will not provide any login information of the deceased person account and do their upmost to ensure the security of the deceased account.
We hope this has helped provide some clarity over what happens to social media accounts after death. Our social media accounts can be very personal, and we should be aware (and able to choose) of what happens to them when we are no longer around.