Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Nothing Is Certain (Except Death and Facebook)

Facebook announces a new approach for handling deceased users' pages:

"When someone leaves us, they don't leave our memories or our social network," Facebook director of security Max Kelly said in a blog post Monday.

"To reflect that reality, we created the idea of 'memorialized' profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who've passed."

Profiles of dead people do not turn up in friend recommendations or general searches at Facebook, according to Kelly. Privacy settings on memorialized accounts only let confirmed friends or family members see them.

Also see: Facebook to launch memorial profiles of deceased users

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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2 comments:

sharkibark said...

I vote this equally kinda cool and kinda creepy.

I wonder what ad sponsers will devote themselves to these dead pages, keeping them free?

And if there is not enough traffic (and... there won't be. No updates or drink-sending or mafia wars requests after all!) will they implement a pay system to keep a loved one's memory alive? Just wondering....

By the way... to my extended friends and family FRICKING STOP SENDING ME DRINKS AND MAFIA WARS REQUESTS! I AM *DEAD* DAMMIT!!! LET ME REST IN PEACE! YES!! I AM YELLING AT YOU!

Lorna said...

I've experienced this with a childhood friend of mine who passed in a motorcycle accident. While he was obviously no longer using his FB profile, people continued to post on his wall, sharing memories, asking for strength during a particular hardship, and generally using FB as a vessel to remember his life. I think, in a way, it was therapeutic to the grieving process for many.