Facebook users who have died sometimes come up in the notifications box, urging other users to reconnect with them. For the loved ones who receive this kind of notification, it can be comforting to see their faces again, but often times and usually in the end, they will feel sad about it. Sometimes, it can be weird and even disturbing. This is the dilemma that Facebook is facing about how it deals with its dead members.
According to Meredith Chin, a spokeswoman for Facebook, this topic is a very sensitive one, and that they cannot keep up with the number of Facebook members who dies every day, in as much as they can’t keep up with the number of new users that come in every day.
There was a time in the past where most of the Facebook users belong to the younger generation. However, this has all changed, and in fact, around 6.5 million people over 65 have signed up on Facebook for the month of May. This is of course the age where people have the highest mortality rate, so Facebook will have an even harder time dealing with this concern.
Before, Facebook simply deleted the profiles when they learned that the person who owned that is dead. Now, they allow special memorial profiles for people who have died, where people can still comment but no longer receive notifications, among others.
A SOLUTION TO CONFIRMING DEAD FACEBOOK USERS
This article references the difficulty that Facebook is having identifying users who have passed away. Last year eFarewell.com was launched, to which I am the founder and co-owner of. eFarewell.com is the first and only website that allows users to leave a final farewell message with video, text and images that will remain safely locked until after their death. We currently have a pending patent on the technology and system platform for this functionality. The technology of eFarewell.com could offer Facebook with the solution to their problem. We have created an automated way to identify a deceased individual without the aid of a death certificate, obituary, or any other physical document of the like. As a solution to Facebooks issues, either an association with eFarewell and/or its technology could compliment and work well as an additional feature for the Facebook website. We have previously contacted FB offer this solution, but attempts to contact have gone unanswered. Their users would be able to add a feature to their existing account where, through eFarewell or its technology, they can leave vaulted video, images, and text separate from their live account that would be unlocked upon the automated confirmation of their death. Therefore, the user will leave exactly what it is they want visitors to see after they have passed away, providing security of content and releasing Facebook of privacy liability issues. This will help eliminate future legal issues, based on the premise that the deceased has given distinct permission and authority for certain material to be viewed after they have passed.
Facebook has a problem, eFarewell has the solution… why aren’t they listening?
Regards,
Michelle Iglesias, CFO
http://www.eFarewell.com
michelle@efarewell.com
Wilbraham, MA