Facebook adds 'legacy contract'

cloud493

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/you-can-now-decide-who-will-run-your-facebook-after-you-die?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpgp#.jgEZy82VQ

The designated person is called a “legacy contact,” and will be able to do things like write a memorial post on the person’s page, respond to friend requests, and update the person’s profile picture.

The legacy contact can also download an archive of the person’s photos, posts, and profile information, and add a note to the top that says “remembering,” but will not be able to see the deceased’s private messages.

Legacy contacts still can’t delete embarrassing photos, edit posts that the deceased wrote, or delete the account entirely, policies that spokeswoman Jodi Seth told the Wall Street Journal took “a lot of thought.”
If a person does not choose a legacy contact, Facebook will continue to freeze the person’s account and leave everything as it was, which they call memorialization. Ads are not shown on these pages.

Thats the craziest thing I've ever heard. Do people care that much?

reprise

Legacy contact? Thanks but no thanks, any dosh in the will?

mikom

rip bud.
you is diffin with the angles, biggy and two pack now

Miaireland

I can't say I care enough about facebook to have a Legacy contact for mine but I do think if one is appointed by someone then they should be able to delete the page if they feel that it more appropriate.

c_man

I don't think it crazy at all tbh. They've obviously have been getting lots of feedback from the families/friends of deceased people about the page. I read about it recently, how some people got peace and comfort from posting on their friend's wall, families asking for certain notifications to be stopped etc. Makes sense to have something there for this.

smash

It's daft. The people are dead and its a social network. It's not very sociable to send messages to dead people.

I'm of the opinion that the accounts of dead people, or inactive accounts should be deleted after 3 months max. But sure then their user ase would fall.

ManofStraw

It makes sense for all the small businesses that are run through facebook, also interesting if Facebook is going to become the new obituaries. You wont need to search in the paper for funeral details as it will be posted to their page.

anncoates

You just know there will be fake selfies from the grave.

c_man

smash wrote: »

It's daft. The people are dead and its a social network. It's not very sociable to send messages to dead people.

I'm of the opinion that the accounts of dead people, or inactive accounts should be deleted after 3 months max. But sure then their user ase would fall.

They have 1.35 billion monthly active users

smash

c_man wrote: »

They have 1.35 billion monthly active users

So?

c_man

smash wrote: »

So?

Compared to that number, I don't think inactive/dead accounts would make up much at all.


Also I misread your post, as "the arse would fall out of their user base"

anncoates

I think you can get a deceased relative's account closed down anyway so it's not for that purpose I assume.

I assume they want to facilitate people updating the profile on the dead person's behalf which I guess addresses the commercial bummer of your customer(s) dying on you, eh?

hardCopy

Miaireland wrote: »

I can't say I care enough about facebook to have a Legacy contact for mine but I do think if one is appointed by someone then they should be able to delete the page if they feel that it more appropriate.

It already can be requested for deletion by a family member. I'd imagine this is just to make life easier for Facebook to verify a request from a family member.

RDM_83 again

Its a good idea I think without any downsides, after a very close friend died suddenly two years ago we used his page to share some nice pictures random people had for him and to get in contact with the very diverse people he knew to invite them to the memorial service and so on, I can't really see any downside too it

FactCheck

I've been on Facebook for 10 years now (yikes). And in that time I've unfortunately seen several friends die. I know some people like to turn pages into a memorial, in my circle the usual thing has been to have the page deleted and that's certainly what I'd want. There's no right or wrong when family or close friends die though.

This system would have been an enormous help when my best friend's boyfriend died suddenly and tragically. Instead we had to deal with hoop-jumping and the Daily Mail scraping the page for photos.

todders

No doubt, someone will take the opportunity to fake their death (on facebook)making sure their "legacy contact" is in on it just to see what folks will post about them

thelad95

Facebook is popular at the minute but so was MySpace, Bebo and LinkedIn once upon a time. Something else will come along, Zuckerburg will cash out when the time is right and the site will eventually die. Basically, what I'm saying is that hopefully by the time I die, Facebook will be a distant memory.