Facebook is making it easier to plan for your online afterlife.
The world's biggest online social network said Thursday that it will now let users pick someone who can manage their account after they die. Previously, the accounts were "memorialized" after death, or locked so that no one could log in.
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Facebook says its users wanted more choice. Beginning in the US, Facebook users can now pick a "legacy contact" to post on their page after they die, respond to new friend requests and update their profile picture and cover photo. Users can also have their accounts deleted after their death, which was not possible before.
If you want someone to manage your account after you die, click on the upside-down triangle on the top right corner of your page and find "security settings." For US users there will be an option to edit your legacy contact, who must be a Facebook user. But you don't have to pick someone else to manage your account. You can also check a box to permanently delete your account when you die.
The person you choose to manage your account won't be notified of your choice until your Facebook account is memorialized. But you can choose to send them a message right away.
Accounts are memorialized at the request of loved ones, who must provide proof of the person's death, such as an obituary. Facebook tries to ensure that the account of the dead user doesn't show up as a "suggested friend" or in other ways that could upset the person's loved ones.
Facebook, which has nearly 1.4 billion users, won't say how many accounts are memorialized, though Facebook product manager Vanessa Callison-Burch said there have been "hundreds of thousands" of requests from loved ones to do so.