Facebook has added a thoughtful feature today that will make things easier for folks using social media to grieve the loss of a loved one. It’s called “Adding a Legacy Contact,” and it allows users to name a person who has can make limited adjustments to the deceased’s Facebook account after they die. Users can instead request that an account is deleted after death.
“By talking to people who have experienced loss, we realized there is more we can do to support those who are grieving and those who want a say in what happens to their account after death,” the firm wrote in a blog post accompanying release of the feature, which is available across the U.S. starting today.
Social media can be a source of great pain and even cruelty, particularly when a death is sudden. For some time, Facebook has allowed loved ones to “memorialize” the account of someone who had died, which prevented some of that unnecessary pain. That locked the account in place, and prevented wall posts by others. But setting up a legacy contact provides a series of more thoughtful options. A legacy contact can:
- 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
- Also download an archive of the photos, posts and profile information they shared on Facebook, if that option is selected
“Other settings will remain the same as before the account was memorialized. The legacy contact will not be able to log in as the person who passed away or see that person’s private messages,” Facebook says. “Our team at Facebook is grateful and humbled to be working on these improvements. We hope this work will help people experience loss with a greater sense of possibility, comfort and support.”
To activate the legacy contact, go to settings, then security, and click on the “legacy contact” option at the bottom of the page.
Users notify Facebook that a loved one has died by filling out the form on this page.
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