Today’s Lola cartoon is instructive for Facebook users!
Lola is reading a newspaper while sitting on a bench in the park with a friend. Her friend has a laptop computer. Lola says, “Wonder how old Ned Gunderson is doing? I know he’d been ill.” Her friend says, “Maybe there’s something on his Facebook page.”
The next panel her friend says, “He updated his status to ‘deceased’.” Lola quips, “He always was thorough.”
Okay, here’s the question – would anyone in your family know how to change your active Facebook page to a Memorial Page?
Our lives are now lived in both the real world and the virtual online world. When someone dies, their bodies are disposed of, but their online presence remains. Those Facebook profiles, Twitter feeds, blogs and other online accounts are still out there, a virtual life after death.
Facebook allows groups to set up pages and contribute postings to honor someone who has died. Each group has an officer and administrator, and friends or admirers can post comments, photos, videos, and links related to the deceased. Some of these sites have hundreds of members, others just a few dozen.
The deceased’s full name, date of birth, account email addresses and other information is needed to either delete a Facebook account or change the page over to a free Facebook Memorial. You also need some proof of the death, such as an online obituary. Memorializing the account removes contact information, online group memberships, and personal information, such as favorites.
You can report a death and memorialize or remove Facebook profiles at this link: www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=deceased.
