My mum never really liked Facebook. She signed up for an account a few years back.
She died about a year and a half ago. I’m being asked to wish her a happy birthday, and I get it, Facebook doesn’t know. How do I let them know?
I’m guessing that without being able to produce a death certificate to FB itself, there’s nothing you can do apart from just ‘unfriending’ your mum. And that seems like a really callous thing to do being emotionally hurtful etc.
It’s going to be a problem as we age and drop off the perch. I have given my kids my FB (and other social media) passwords so they can notify friends and the likes of folks here of my lack of life when I cease to be.
Maybe FB will institute a policy where if an account has been inactive for x months/years (depending upon the previous activity of the account) it will be flagged for manual re-activation and when that doesn’t happen it will be deleted?
I already have a number of FB friends who have passed-away but still get reminded of their birthdays. But they’re not my mum, and I can’t imagine how that must make you feel.
Cheers.
It was impossible to find through facebook’s help page, but you use this page to have it deleted or turned into a memorial (no more posting to it, not birthday reminders, but you can see old pictures). It requires a scan of the death certificate (other documentation is possible to use, but takes longer).
I had a friend who died a few years ago. His Facebook account is still active, and people wish him a happy birthday, even though everyone knows he has passed. It’s a way of keeping his memory alive.
Here is what fb has to say about accounts of the deceased. Basically, a page can be deleted, or set up as a memorial account where friends or loved ones can post.
If you are still alive, you can set up a Legacy Contact who can easily inform fb of your demise. If no LC has been designated, family or friends can send a form notifying fb of the fact but they have to jump through a few hoops including (if possible) proof of death.
Thanks. I managed to send some information to them. I don’t want a memorialized account though, I just want the thing gone. We’ll see what happens. She barely used the account in the first place.