The new Facebook plan to manage the accounts of users who die

The company said in a statement that it was hoping to end the "painful" experience of receiving suggestions for inviting dead people to events or wish them a happy birthday.

In the individual profiles, the tributes will now appear in a separate space, leaving the wall of the deceased person as the user had it.

"We hope that Facebook will continue to be a place where you can celebrate and relive the memories and the spirit of your loved ones," said Sheryl Sandberg, director of operations of the company.

Users often complain about being shocked and upset when Facebook urges them to interact with a deceased contact.

The social network has been offering users since 2009 the ability to "remember" profiles (commemorative accounts), a status that adds the word "In Memory of" next to the person's name so that friends and family can write messages. . The social network says that more than 30 million people use this option every month.

Once the page "remembered", unexpected notifications arrive as if that person was still alive.

However, this did not happen with profiles of deceased users who did not have this type of account, which Facebook will change with the use of artificial intelligence.

Inherited contacts

Facebook has also announced other adjustments that affect how deceased users are represented on the social network.

Commemorative accounts will now have a separate "tribute" tab allowing people to leave their condolences and memories, a system that leaves that person's wall intact.

Content published as a tribute may be moderated by the users chosen by that person to manage his "inheritance" on the social network, called "legacy contacts".

Types of digital goods

Financial: bank details, virtual currencies, accounts.

Social: accounts on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Sentimental: personal files, such as photos or favorite songs.

"Legacy contacts can now moderate shared posts in the new tribute section by changing the settings for tagging people, removing tags, and changing people who can and can not see the posts," Sandberg said.

Children under 18 can not name an inherited contact, but parents or guardians of deceased children can contact Facebook to request access.

Some of these changes occur in response to some system abuse, such as a "joke" in which some users falsely declared to Facebook that someone had died, preventing them from accessing their account and causing distress to their friends and family.

What will happen to your Facebook account if you die?

* Commemorative Accounts: The word In Memoriam will appear next to your name and a tribute section.

* Inherited contacts: is a person to whom you choose to take care of your account when it becomes memorial.

* Delete your account: you can decide that your account is permanently deleted in case of death (in configuration).

* For friends and family: You can create a group so that Facebook users share their memories of you.

Source: Facebook help service

BBC