Rest in peace, Facebook friend...

A friend of a friend in Facebook just died. Checked out the profile and read on the wall, lots of comments saying, “Rest in peace, my friend,” “you’ll be missed,” “this is so sudden,” “our condolences to your family.”…..How weird is that. A popular plastic surgeon in California dies tweeting as his jeep drove off a cliff. What happens to his twitter account then? By the way, just to insert an idea, many people think twitters are self-absorbed and self-centered individuals in need of acceptance, attention, and oh yeah, money. Well, probably; to each his own. Soulja Boy and Kim Kardashian cash in every tweet, raking in ten thousand dollars per tweet. Big deal, anyways that is another matter to focus on.


So, I got this question lingering in mind, will the profiles of the diseased stay on? Usually, all passwords and means to access the profiles are kept in confidentiality known only to the user. However, there are ways for all social network website administrators to have these things kept in their databases. They can retrieve necessary details in order to either delete the account or memorialize the loved one, as the next of kin or lawful representative would wish.

Out of curiosity, I inquired from the FB administrators, since they have been so helpful and keen on addressing a friend’s dilemma when her business profile was hacked recently and had problems accessing her own account. Apart from the fact that they can easily delete the account, they came back with a response that somehow there is a course of action referred to as “memorializing” profiles of people who have passed on. The website administrator would require a documented proof of this bereavement then the profile of the diseased gets cut out of the ‘public search’ results and will cease to turn up in Facebook suggestions. In addition, they seal them off from any imminent log-in efforts of others. However, they may leave the wall open only for family members and friends to pay their respects to a dear friend or family. Morbid? Not necessarily. This is reality.