The Death of a Facebook Profile

Monday, 11 October 2010 | by Pat's Picks

Facebook has arguably made it easier to live your life online. But what the website hasn’t figured out, according to today’s San Jose Mercury News, is how to deal with death. Facebook has come under fire recently for its policy regarding members who’ve passed on. A death certificate or newspaper obituary must be presented to the company for a page to be “memorialized.” When a page is memorized, only people who are currently friend of the deceased can log on and comment on their page.

Some users say the process erases the musings of their loved ones, which are a valuable resource for the bereaved. Facebook says its policy was conceived to minimize “pranks and harassment.” But the Mercury News says if the policy doesn’t change in the next decade, it’s fair to wonder how many [of Facebook’s 500 million users] may be apparitions. Stepping into the void are several start-ups aimed at making a business based on online memorials.