Life after death on Facebook: Memorials and last wishes

Abstract

As more people are using social networking sites like Facebook to document their lives and keep in touch with others, it is becoming increasingly important to consider what will happen to their digital assets that they will have amassed over the years before they die. But are Facebook users aware of what will happen to their accounts when they die? What do Facebook users think about Facebook‟s memorialising policy, which outlines how deceased user‟s accounts are handled? And are Facebook‟s policies and procedures congruent with what people want to have happen to their Facebook accounts when they die? 113 people completed an online survey to answer these questions. The questionnaire found that while most participants were not aware of and did not have any personal experiences with Facebook‟s memorialising policy, they were generally able to guess what might happen to their accounts when they die. When given a summary of Facebook‟s memorialising policy, participants‟ responses were mostly positive, though notably 60% of participants did not want their accounts memorialised when they die. Many were able to highlight advantages and disadvantages of memorialising a deceased user‟s account, and two suggestions were offered to Facebook to better accommodate its population of deceased users and their loved ones. Participants were most comfortable sharing aspects of their Facebook account with their close friends, though privacy is considered to be as important in death as it is in life. Additionally, though the majority of the participants had not considered what would happen to their Facebook accounts when they die before attempting the survey, almost 30% of the participants indicated they would proceed to make some provisions for their Facebook account in the event of their deaths after having completed the survey. Keywords: bereavement, continuing bonds, digital assets, Facebook, grief, online memorials, social networking sites, thanatechnology, thanatology, thanatosensitivity