Social media has been used as a way to connect and share memories with those who have passed away. The sudden passing of someone close to you can be a traumatic experience. Social media can be a helpful resource because it allows them to connect with other people in the same situation. Experiencing grief is a very personal process and finding closed groups on social media can be a really helpful tool and safe space towards recovery.
Coping with grief is a complicated and personal experience and there is no "one size fits all" definition of what it means to grieve online. If you're feeling lonely after the loss of a loved one, going online can be a way to keep each other company. Social media has enabled millions of people to mourn and commemorate their loved ones, whether by posting a death announcement, a tribute, or creating a memorial page. Additionally, it enables people to provide updates on friends and relatives in the final stages of terminal illnesses.
Why is it important to secure the social media of deceased loved ones?
Mourning and memorialization on social media are very common these days. You can find a lot of people using sites like Facebook.
On Facebook, when users die, their accounts can be made into memorials. This gives them a continued presence on the site and makes it easier to find out about the person after their passing. Hopefully, people will be inspired by these memorials.
Digital Legacies
Digital legacies are digital representations of a person. They can contain information about life, thoughts, feelings, and experiences. The digital legacy is the culmination of a person’s existence. This legacy can be found in social media posts, personal photos, and more.
Social media may seem like it is short-lived and fleeting, but social media can be used to preserve a loved one's legacy and memorialize them. Accounts can be secured with a few simple steps and then entrusted to a family member or trusted friend.
Social media sites are legally obliged to comply with privacy regulations which also ensure the rights of individuals' data after death. This includes not selling their personal information, deleting anything they might have left on the site, and giving it back to their family. Each social media platform has its own rules for when a person dies. A social media platform's rules can change, so you'll want to check with them again as soon as possible.
Memorializing
Memorializing social media is the act of preserving a legacy on social media after one passed away. A tribute page can be created where loved ones and their posts are shared between friends & family where they can leave messages of remembrance and condolences to honor the life of the person.
This allows you to talk about death in a personal way. This way, each person can post a string of remembrance & condolences. Family and friends who are following an individual will be notified of the social media messages posted on that person's account. You can also be maintaining their privacy settings so that only approved people can see what was being posted.
If you are feeling the pain of loss, it is important to know that you are not alone. You can try to memorialize your loved ones by sharing their story. You can also replace the default profile picture on social media with a photo of them to show that they were important in your life.
Legal Considerations
The emotional impact of losing a loved one can affect our mental health. The loss can be even more difficult to bear when the deceased person's social media accounts are taken over by hackers or scammers after their death.
Although it is difficult to prove, there are some instances that scammers troll information of the deceased on social media. If someone wants to steal identity after someone passed, they can do so by hacking into their online account. Every year, over 2.5 million people's identities are stolen after they die. These people have their identity used to apply for credit cards, loans, or even a cell phone, which can do loads of damage to the victim's family.
The death of a loved one is always difficult, but planning after what comes next can be even more challenging. If you are managing a deceased person’s account or Gmail app, knowing the cybersecurity risks of taking over an account is a major step to take.
When someone passes away, it's best to either close their account or disable it so that fraudsters can't access any personal information. Instead, a new group or page can be created that's about the person who passed away.
Conclusion
One of the most difficult parts of death is the grieving period. Many people find this time to be very lonely and without hope. However, there are many ways to honor our loved ones who have passed away even on social media. Particularly on Facebook, creating a page or group for the person who died is one way that can be very effective. Not only does it remind you of your connection with this person, but it also provides an opportunity to remember them and their ability to inspire.
Sophia Young recently quit a non-writing job to finally be able to tell stories and paint the world through her words. She loves talking about fashion and weddings and travel, but she can also easily kick ass with a thousand-word article about the latest marketing and business trends, finance-related topics, and can probably even whip up a nice heart-warming article about family life. She can totally go from fashion guru to your friendly neighborhood cat lady with mean budgeting skills and home tips real quick.
