The new Facebook feature, called “Legacy”, gives new meaning to the phrase ”life after death”. It is an option which allows people to leave control of their Facebook accounts to a loved one after they have died. And it might prove a good way of preventing the profile of the deceased from popping up in others’ timelines as though nothing had happened.
The measure is meant to help the bereaved deal with the grief and to keep the departed in their memory. It is also effective in reaching the person’s contacts and letting them know about the tragedy.
The measure can be opted for by choosing a name from the security settings, in which case, that person will be notified of this decision.
However, the idea is not to give someone full access to the user’s account, to do with as they please. The control this person has over the account is restricted. Firstly, they cannot log in as the original user, nor can they access the deceased’s list of contacts or their private messages. What they can do is post a message at the top of the timeline, for instance if they need to announce the funeral or just send a message about the sad event. Also, given the permission of the user, they may be able to download the photos and posts.
It is also possible for the person managing the account to respond to new friend requests and to update the departed’s profile picture and cover photo, although the use for this mechanism in such circumstances, is at best limited. In fact, sources close to The Register suggest that it would be much wiser to just leave the password to somebody close, which would give them full access to the account. This would allow them to do what is required unfettered. This could be more advantageous than making use of the ”Legacy” feature, which might prove to be more trouble than it’s worth.
Considering the suffering and regret that come with such occurrences, it is difficult to decide which solution would be more expedient and at the ready. Whether you decide to use the “Legacy” feature or to disclose your password to someone, it is good to know that there are more options to chose from. And regardless of what you might thing of this feature’s usefulness, it is still rather considerate of Facebook to have thought of it.