The sad truth is that there is one thing that we can never escape and that is death. Following the death
of a loved one closing down someones Facebook is almost certainly never going to be on the top of
the agenda but in the social age it’s likely to become a consideration. With over 30 million UK users on
Facebook alone there are a lot of people that will ask this question at some point: ‘what happens to my
social media accounts when I die or what do I need to do to close an account after someone has died?’
Facebook report that there are over 30 million users that have died and continue to exist somewhere in
the world wide web. That is just one platform. These figures don’t take into account the number of people
that use other social media platforms like Twitter or Instagram.
Here are the answers we have gathered:
Facebook allows you to add a ‘legacy contact’ who can take limited control of your account after you’ve
passed away. You also have the choice as to whether you would like your Facebook account permanently
deleted after you’ve died or if you would like to have your profile memorialised meaning friends and family
can post messages of remembrance.
For information please visit the Facebook Help Page.
Twitter says that in the event of the death of one of its users they can work with a person authorised to act
on the behalf of the estate (an executor), or with a verified immediate family member of the deceased, to
have an account deactivated.
In the event of the death of a user the account provider (Twitter for example) will be likely to ask for
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The Society of Will Writers