Facebook, one of the world’s most popular social networking sites, recently announced that it will be advancing its technological abilities to begin memorializing the profiles of the deceased at the request of mourning family members.
“When someone leaves us, they don’t leave our memories or our social network,” said Facebook co-founder, Max Kelly. “To reflect that reality, we created the idea of ‘memorialized’ profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who has passed.”
Facebook is asking that if families wish to have a profile memorialized, they should contact Facebook to request it.
When the account is memorialized, they will set the privacy so that only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in a search.
Facebook will make an effort to protect the privacy of the deceased by removing sensitive information such as contact information and status updates.
Ultimately, memorializing the account disables anyone from logging into it in the future, while still enabling friends and family to leave posts on the profile wall in remembrance.
Many feel that this has been done unofficially.
“I feel like people have been unofficially doing this for years on social networking sites,” said junior marketing major Katherine Wallace. “Nowadays, when someone passes, friends and family write ‘R.I.P.’ and ‘we will miss you and we love you’ on their loved ones walls,” she added.
Junior supply chain management major Brittany Moye agrees with Wallace.
“A lot of the time, you will see a ‘R.I.P.’ or ‘thinking of you’ post on the wall of a deceased friend,” said Moye. “I like Facebook’s decision to memorialize the profiles,” she added.
According to a statement released by Kelly, inspiration for the decision to begin memorializing profiles came about four years ago when Facebook was first established.
He was originally drawn to Facebook for the “opportunity to help build a technology that enables people to model their social network and interact with it online.”
He also said that it gave him a chance to work alongside his best friend of 20 years.
Six weeks after the release of Facebook, Kelly’s best friend was killed in a sudden and tragic accident.
Stunned and taken aback by the tragic and untimely death of his friend, Kelly and his team of 40 began to wonder what they could do to honor his friend and his contribution to what has now become a multi-million dollar empire.
They began facing questions like “what to do with his profile,” and “how do you deal with an interaction with someone who is no longer able to log on?”
Four years later, the plan to memorialize profiles has answered that questions.
“Personally, I feel as if this new move by Facebook is giving technology too much power,” said senior pre-physical therapy major, Whennah Andrews.
“With Facebook memorializing profiles, there is a lack of sacredness in the commemoration of a loved ones death. It’s one thing to set up a group remembering the person, but I feel like keeping their profile open is a bit too much,” she added.
Some agree with Andrews, while others feel that it is the perfect way to commemorate someone’s passing, especially as college students when it is, at times, difficult to attend funerals back home.
“One of my friends just became a victim of the senseless gun violence in Chicago and was shot and killed,” said sophomore chemistry major Dominique Knox. “I wasn’t able to fly home for his funeral, but I did pay my respects on his Facebook wall. I think when you can’t make the funeral, Facebook becomes the next best option because everyone uses it,” she added.
He and the Facebook team understand the difficulty for people to be reminded of those who are no longer with them.
“As time passes, the sting of losing someone you care about also fades but it never goes away. I still visit my friend’s memorialized profile to remember the good times we had and share them with our mutual friends,” said Kelly.
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