No one likes imagining himself or herself dead but the truth is it will happen at some point. Facebook knows this and that is why the company has introduced a new feature that allows you to choose a legacy contact who will manage your account after you pass away. This is a welcomed feature I must say and will definitely be useful.
Once Facebook is notified that a user has died, it will memorialize the account and allow the legacy contact to be able to do three things. These are:
- Write a post to display at the top of the memorialized Timeline (for example, to announce a memorial service or share a special message)
- Respond to new friend requests from family members and friends who were not yet connected on Facebook
- Update the profile picture and cover photo
When selecting their legacy contacts, individuals can decide to allow them (legacy contacts) to download an archive of the photos, posts and profile information they shared on Facebook. Note, the Legacy contact will not have access to personal messages.
For users who are not happy having all the above done on their accounts when they die, they can let Facebook know in order to delete their accounts when they die.
To choose a Legacy contact, go to settings. Choose Security and then Legacy Contact at the bottom of the page. You will then have an option of sending a message to the contact informing them of it.