A new policy has been implemented on Facebook that gives people more freedom on what to do with their Facebook profiles after they pass away. Before the new policy, people usually gave a family member their password and gave them instruction on what to do, or they could have a family member start a petition to take it down.
Facebook has made it much easier to deal with this problem. Now, people have the option of placing a setting that permanently deletes one’s profile when they pass away, or they can designate a “legacy contact” which allows a designated person to change certain settings on the deceased’s Facebook page. A legacy contact can change a profile and cover photo, write a special post in memory of the deceased, accept friend requests and even download an archive of pictures to keep. One thing they will not be able to do however is view messages.
This change makes it much easier to deal with social media after one passes away. Before this change, family members would be looking everywhere for written passwords. The change has been welcomed by users and can be used as soon as possible.