I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Guide and guard me through the night
and have my last tweet take flight.
Let’s be blunt
What happens when you die? Well, there’s the few obvious ones. Your heart has stopped beating and you’re either in the ground or in a pot.
But, what happens to all you’ve done in life? All you’ve created? All the tweets, all the updates, the email accounts, the Pinterest boards, etc. What happens to it all?
It. Stays.
Have you ever thought about how 10 years after you die everyone will still be able to see your accounts? We’ve heard several times that once it’s on the Internet, it’s no longer private. So, what do you want to happen to your memories, photos and accounts that are held online when you lose whatever control you may have had before?
Well, in this age, it’s time to start thinking.
Five states already have laws that reference someone’s digital life after death. Most of them already seem to be out-of-date, though. However, the concept of laws regarding digital estates is gaining some ground.
For instance, according to a Mashable article, lawyers in Oklahoma, one of the five states to have laws regarding digital estates, now ask those creating wills about how they want their digital accounts to be taken care of after death.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the almost-no-longer-relevant MySpace have policies in place for death.
For example, the most popular social site out there, Facebook has two options.
Facebook allows an account to either be deleted or “memorialized” after the account holder passes on. A memorialized Facebook preserves the user’s online identity. That means that only confirmed friends can visit the deceased’s profile, view photos or write on his/her Facebook wall. This also means that the deceased user’s profile no longer appears in the “your friends like” sections, so as to not serve as a façade that the deceased is still with us.
After my friend passed suddenly in 2010, that's exactly what happen to his Facebook.
The ability for a Facebook account to be memorialized also clears the account of personal identifiers and contact information to protect it from hacking and to respect privacy, a news article stated.
If how you leave your social media sites after you pass is something that you find important, then you can go about this in different ways.
You could leave instructions in your will, or you could use some more “out-of-the-box” ideas.
Derek K. Miller, a journalist and blogger from Vancouver, Canada, wrote a blog post that was only to be posted once he died. The purpose was to “turn this (the blog) from an active website into an archive,” the post said.
Miller entrusted this final wish to someone he was close to, but, now there is the option to leave that final wish in the hands of a site before the Grim Reaper takes you with his.
If I die is a Facebook application that allows you to compose a video or post that won’t be sent until after death. The application allows you to choose three trustees (Facebook friends) that are in charge of having the app post your last message for Facebook.
This site is different because it leaves you in control. The system will periodically request you to type in a pre-determined password. If the requests are repeatedly ignored, then the site presumes you’re "no longer with the living" and will send along your information. The free version allows you to compose one email to be sent to one person. However, in the premium version, you are allowed to send up to 30 emails with 10 recipients each and as many attachments as you desire. The premise of this site is so that you don’t die with secrets.
1.1 million social media users die each year. When your number's up, what will you leave for the social world?
Let’s be blunt
What happens when you die? Well, there’s the few obvious ones. Your heart has stopped beating and you’re either in the ground or in a pot.
But, what happens to all you’ve done in life? All you’ve created? All the tweets, all the updates, the email accounts, the Pinterest boards, etc. What happens to it all?
It. Stays.
What do you think
should happen to your digital life?
Have you ever thought about how 10 years after you die everyone will still be able to see your accounts? We’ve heard several times that once it’s on the Internet, it’s no longer private. So, what do you want to happen to your memories, photos and accounts that are held online when you lose whatever control you may have had before?
Well, in this age, it’s time to start thinking.
Five states already have laws that reference someone’s digital life after death. Most of them already seem to be out-of-date, though. However, the concept of laws regarding digital estates is gaining some ground.
For instance, according to a Mashable article, lawyers in Oklahoma, one of the five states to have laws regarding digital estates, now ask those creating wills about how they want their digital accounts to be taken care of after death.
Social Media has afterlife options?
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the almost-no-longer-relevant MySpace have policies in place for death.
For example, the most popular social site out there, Facebook has two options.
Facebook allows an account to either be deleted or “memorialized” after the account holder passes on. A memorialized Facebook preserves the user’s online identity. That means that only confirmed friends can visit the deceased’s profile, view photos or write on his/her Facebook wall. This also means that the deceased user’s profile no longer appears in the “your friends like” sections, so as to not serve as a façade that the deceased is still with us.
After my friend passed suddenly in 2010, that's exactly what happen to his Facebook.
It looks the same as everyone else’s Facebook (before
timeline that is) but it isn’t active besides what his loved ones, including me, post on it.
The ability for a Facebook account to be memorialized also clears the account of personal identifiers and contact information to protect it from hacking and to respect privacy, a news article stated.
What can I do?
If how you leave your social media sites after you pass is something that you find important, then you can go about this in different ways.
You could leave instructions in your will, or you could use some more “out-of-the-box” ideas.
Derek K. Miller, a journalist and blogger from Vancouver, Canada, wrote a blog post that was only to be posted once he died. The purpose was to “turn this (the blog) from an active website into an archive,” the post said.
Miller entrusted this final wish to someone he was close to, but, now there is the option to leave that final wish in the hands of a site before the Grim Reaper takes you with his.
If I die is a Facebook application that allows you to compose a video or post that won’t be sent until after death. The application allows you to choose three trustees (Facebook friends) that are in charge of having the app post your last message for Facebook.
From Youtube
Another system that tries to take care of your after-death
needs is Death Switch.
This site is different because it leaves you in control. The system will periodically request you to type in a pre-determined password. If the requests are repeatedly ignored, then the site presumes you’re "no longer with the living" and will send along your information. The free version allows you to compose one email to be sent to one person. However, in the premium version, you are allowed to send up to 30 emails with 10 recipients each and as many attachments as you desire. The premise of this site is so that you don’t die with secrets.
 |
| From Death Switch |
Have important files at work secured with passwords? Send
your co-workers an email with the codes. Have a final wish for your family? Email it. The ways of using this medium go on and on.
This system allows you to not have to share this information
with anyone before you die. It stays right in your head (and in the
pre-compiled message) until it’s too late to get out of your head.
1.1 million social media users die each year. When your number's up, what will you leave for the social world?
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