Did you know that 10,000 Facebook users die every day on average? Believe it or not, it's true. What happens to their accounts once they've gone to their great reward? Well, until recently there were only two options.
If Facebook didn't know someone was dead, anyone with their login and password could get into the account and delete it (or whatever other macabre plans they had in mind). If Facebook did know they were dead, the account got locked down but remained on the site, essentially becoming a forever-more social memorial to the deceased. Now that's a bit macabre.
Your Social Heir
Facebook has made some bonehead decisions over the year (you know it's true!), but this time they got it right. They now will let any user pick someone to become the manager of their account after they have passed from this world.
This option is only available in the US for now, but it's rolling out to all users soon. If you don't want to pick a Facebook heir, you can alternately choose to have your account deleted when you die, something that also wasn't possible before.
To choose your "legacy contact", just go to your security settings - that's under the little upside-down arrow at the top right of your page, if you've never gone there before - and choose someone to take over upon your demise. Or choose for your account to be deleted. If you choose a legacy contact, they have to also be a Facebook user.
Keeping it Not Weird
The whole "memorialized account" thing was weird enough by itself, but use some discretion if you pick a legacy contact. Your cousin Ed with the really strange sense of humor probably isn't your best bet here. Do you really want your online life to go forward after you're gone, especially if it goes on in an extremely bizarre way? Probably not.
Personally, I think I'd choose to delete my account. Or at least pick a relative that I know I could trust to have some common sense and decency. But that's just me. Maybe you want to have an online afterlife that freaks people out. If that's you're thing, more power to ya.
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