Who Will Update Your Status When You Die?

Who will get your passwords when you die?  Have you ever thought about it?  If you live in the USA, the government is asking you to consider this matter (according to an article I just read on The Atlantic, that is).  Putting plans for your social media accounts into your will is now something being recommended.

My spouse knows the login info for all of my major accounts – but is that enough?  The article I read on The Atlantic explained, “that the average person has 25 password-protected accounts and types about eight passwords a day.”  Juggling so many password-protected accounts is pretty intense for the average person, let alone a grieving friend or family member.  And besides even knowing how to access the accounts of the deceased – knowing what to do with such accounts can require survivors to take some real shots in the dark.

Would you like your account to stay open and function as a virtual memorial?  The Facebook memorialization feature is widely used for just this reason.  Perhaps you’d like your online self to die along with your analog flesh and bone?  It’s one more thing that the modern computerized person needs to really think about it.

Keep in mind a few pointers though (as mentioned in the article on The Atlantic) – wills become public record.  So you may not want to go posting all of your passwords and login information right in your will.  Suggests the article, “you might want to consider establishing a trust or just an informal agreement with information about your passwords and how you would like your accounts to be handled.”

This isn’t the first time I’ve delved into such morbid media ideas.  Immortum (currently down for site construction at the time of press) is a social media site that caters to post-life posting, and we’ve reported on it here before.  Perhaps using a platform like Immortum in conjunction with a will and/or estate that specifically relegates instructions for your accounts is the best way to go?  Seems like all bases would be covered that way.

As our online lives become a more serious facet of our personalities and lives in entirety – it’s a serious and valid thing to consider.

Image Source:  “Reporting Death to Facebook / Twitter… Should They Change Their Policy,” (e-membrance, 2012).