The advent of social media has brought with it changes with how people mourn their loved ones.
Facebook pages can be set up in tribute. Twitter feeds stand as a wonderful testimony to the thoughts and lives of people we love. Instagram pages give us a gallery of those most missed.
Social media accounts have created a digital legacy for all users when they pass away.
For anyone who’s wondered how that legacy can be managed, or how to look after the accounts of someone lost to you, here is our guide to the main accounts.
Facebook users can choose in advance if they’d like their profile to exist as a memorial, or if they wish for it to close down in the event of their passing.
Users are also able to set up a “Legacy Contact“, someone who will be given limited access to your profile after you die.
After your contact posts a final message, your profile can be turned into a memorial where people can post tributes.
As Facebook owns Instagram, there are a number of similarities in actions that can be taken after you die.
While you account can be memorialised, people will not be allowed to log in as the deceased. Changes to likes, who the account follows and what pictures are currently uploaded are also locked.
While posts from the account can still be access by those following, they are not searchable.
Twitter users cannot have access to their account handed over to someone in the event of their passing, but friends and family of the deceased will have to contact Twitter if they wish for an account to be deactivated.
Gmail will allow friends and family to access content held in a deceased person’s email. Users can also set an “Inactive Account Manager“, which either deletes or shares your account after a certain amount of time has passed.
Yahoo lets loved ones apply for the right to close the email of someone who has passed away.
iTunes and iCloud will not allow access to be shared with anyone in the event of your passing, but following the production of a death certificate, Apple will shut down an account of the deceased.
