It's no secret that over the years Facebook has undergone some major renovations. From the "like" button to the friend suggestions, it seems as though every few weeks a new application is added to the social networking website. Most recently, Facebook has taken the liberty of recommending that I "reconnect" with friends that I already have. While I find this kind of suggestion invasive, I also find it disturbing. For an entire week, Facebook has been probing me to "reconnect" with a friend of mine from high school - who passed away this summer.
Although I attended her bat mitzvah in eighth grade and she came over to my house sophomore year to celebrate my birthday with pizza, we were never in the same classes and eventually went our separate ways with our own groups of friends. Following her unexpected death over the summer, messages flooded her Facebook wall. Friends expressed their shock, shared their memories and reassured her that she was in their thoughts and prayers. Weeks later, when her 20th birthday arrived, her Facebook wall was filled with birthday wishes as well.
While I thought the considerate messages and memories were no doubt personal and special, at the same time, I couldn't help but feel if the wall posts and constant reminders to "reconnect" with my deceased classmate were somewhat eerie. Not only did I begin to question the ethics of having an individual's Facebook account remain active once they have died, but I also began to wonder if it was an invasion of that person's privacy. Having a Facebook account is different than having a bank or e-mail account in that those are confidential. These kinds of accounts can be canceled, whereas a person's Facebook profile remains an open platform for others to continue to post their thoughts at their discretion, with no monitoring.
Ironically, this same week, according to an article in "Time," Max Kelly of Facebook's head of security announced in a blog post that the company will be "memorializing" the profiles of members who have died. These members will be unable to be found under profile search results, be denied access to any log-in attempts, but will have their wall left open so that friends and family can continue to pay their respects. Certain personal information such as telephone numbers will be unable to be viewed. Though a spokeswoman for Facebook has claimed that this feature has always been available, it is now just recently being publicized as a result of the suggestions for "reconnecting" with friends on the network.
In order to ward off potential pranks, the policy requires that family or friends submit a form proving that the individual has passed away - such as a link to an obituary - which will then allow the profile to be officially memorialized. If family members prefer not to have that person's profile memorialized, Facebook will eliminate the profile altogether.
While I commend Facebook for making the initiative to publicize this feature, realistically, I highly doubt that parents or other family members are going to be in the state of mind to contact Facebook upon the death of a child. Facebook will likely not be a top priority; perhaps a more sensitive and efficient way of doing this could be decided in the near future.
Furthermore, with technology more advanced than ever, some ill-inclined individuals may attempt to send Facebook false obituaries and links, claiming that people have passed away when they are still alive. An official document such as a death certificate is much more credible as opposed to an online obituary that can be copied and pasted from a website.
Additionally, the controversy of tagging the deceased person has not been addressed. While friends may want to tag pictures of that person capturing memories from graduation or a summer day at the beach, others may tag pictures that are not appropriate, or worse, not that individual at all.
Aside from the deceased person's privacy, memorializing a person's profile additionally poses a problem for journalists. Facebook is a significant tool within the communications world and the media relies on the website for information, including crime suspects or those who have died as a result of unusual circumstances. In this case, having access to a person's profile would be potentially helpful in locating friends and family members for pertinent information regarding the person's death.
Ultimately, while memorializing a deceased person's profile has its kinks, it is a thoughtful solution that protects the individual's personal information while allowing their identity to live on. Even though they cannot respond, Facebook allows us to stay connected to those no longer living, preserving their memory and helping in the difficult healing process.
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