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Facebook To Preserve Accounts of the Dead

Barence writes "Social-networking site Facebook is planning to preserve the accounts of dead members. The new 'memorialized' accounts will continue to display photos and wall posts, but remove 'sensitive information' such as status updates and contact information. Friends or family who want to report the death of a Facebook member are encouraged to fill out the site's Deceased form. The form asks for proof of death, such as an obituary or news article, although it's not clear how Facebook can validate the death of a member if neither of those pieces of information is published on the internet. How long before someone snuffs it on Facebook before their time?"

20 of 292 comments (clear)

  1. Smart move! by timothy · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're making a wise decision: status updates and contact information for dead people pretty much define "sensitive information."

    DEADGUY: "Status: Bones yellowed, but still have some structure. Rat finally got away with St. Anthony medallion. Anyone gonna to go the open bar at Styx tonight?!"

    timothy

    --
    jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
    1. Re:Smart move! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      I went ahead and reported this user as dead.

    2. Re:Smart move! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd kind of like to see one from someone getting cremated:

      "Heh. Dad, I don't know how you knew about them, but I'm glad you didn't let Mom find those Henta- wait... why are you putting those in that box with the rest of your- ewww." 3 hours ago
      "Dad! Don't let mom look behind my GRR Martin books on the shelf! It won't end well!" 4 hours ago
      "Wait, what are you guys doing with those bags? Why are you going into the basement?!" 4 hours ago
      "Sweet, I'm on the mantle." 5 hours ago
      "Whew, THAT was odd. I didn't know cremation could be such an experience. Now I'm in a bottle. It better be one of those Star Trek urns like I told them" 8 hours ago
      "Whoah, OK, getting a little warm in here. I thought it was November!" 10 hours ago
      "OK, on the move finally. I wonder where they're putting me." 12 hours ago
      "Hai guyz! I'm in Ur Church, makin you cry lol! LRN2Grieve" 1 day ago
      "This is a pretty nice box I'm in. Very comfy! I wish they'd put me in my other suit, though. This one has a tag that always made my neck itch." 2 days ago
      "OK, I'm glad embalming is only done once. I'm drained!:-P" 2 days ago
      "Status: Dead. lol!" 3 days ago

    3. Re:Smart move! by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Funny

      Anyone gonna to go the open bar at Styx tonight?!

      Who the hell would want to go to an open bar at Styx?!

      First, you'd be surrounded by a bunch of invulnerable drunks. Fun if you're a redneck, but otherwise might become stale quickly. "Hey guys, hold my beer and watch me light my arm on fire!" x1000.

      Second, you'd lose your voice for nine years (this is why the Gods swore oaths on the River Styx... if they broak their oath, they had to drink from the river, lose their voices for nine years, then spend another nine years exiled from the council of gods). So then you couldn't even make fun of the drunken invulnerable rednecks.

      I'd much rather go to the open bar at Lethe, but no one can ever remember who the designated driver is...

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    4. Re:Smart move! by FlyingSquidStudios · · Score: 3, Funny

      The Styx Bar? It's a Grand Illusion, isn't it?

    5. Re:Smart move! by clone53421 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Would it have been possible to copy them to an SD card and bury it in the backyard? That would have been an ... interesting ... way of dealing with the situation.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  2. For Slashdotters by Megaweapon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Be sure and leave a comment on Stephen King's page. Truly an American icon.

    --
    I'm sure "SlashdotMedia" will improve on all the wonders that Dice Holdings blessed us all with
    1. Re:For Slashdotters by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Meme? I heard it on the radio this morning.

  3. Re:Status updates for a dead person? by noundi · · Score: 5, Funny

    Removing that isn't so much privacy as logic. What would it say?

    "Status: Dead"

    "Status: Still Dead"

    "Status: REAL Dead"

    "Status: Excitedly Dead"

    "Status: Dead Dead"

    The Reaper likes this.

    --
    I am the lawn!
  4. Re:as a nice touch.. by undertow3886 · · Score: 5, Funny

    They should do that and also stamp DECEASED in red block letters diagonally across the picture, like you see on someone's file in the movies.

    --
    Sick of people knocking on Gentoo's greatness in completely unrelated .sigs? Me too!
  5. Re:Status updates for a dead person? by zapakh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Removing that isn't so much privacy as logic. What would it say?

    "Status: Dead"

    "Status: Still Dead"

    "Status: REAL Dead"

    "Status: Excitedly Dead"

    "Status: Dead Dead"

    Status: Zombie. Want BRAAAAAINS

  6. Next Up: by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Myspace, in their desperate bid to stay relevant against Facebook, will introduce the "pour a 40" option, which is exactly the same; but much tackier.

  7. Does Abe Vigoda have a Facebook page? by Savior_on_a_Stick · · Score: 4, Funny
  8. Mark Twain's by bugs2squash · · Score: 3, Funny

    Facebook account says he's still alive.

    --
    Nullius in verba
  9. Re:Status updates for a dead person? by clone53421 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Frank Deceased is now friends with: Wormy Maggot.

    Frank Deceased Is it dark in here, or is it just me?

    Frank Deceased has shared a link: http://www.city-data.com/forum/religion-philosophy/139511-purgatory-fact-fiction.html

    Frank Deceased /face melt

    Frank Deceased sure is quiet down here

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  10. I'm not dead yet by SnarfQuest · · Score: 3, Funny

    ob: Monty Python
    I'm not dead yet!
    Yes he is.
    No I'm not.
    Is there something you can do?
    [thwack]

    --
    Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
  11. Re:Status updates for a dead person? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Funny

    You're forgetting all the other important demographics.
    Vampire. Werewolf. Ghost.

    I hate to nitpick[1], but a werewolf is not a member of the undead: "they're big and scary, they come from Überwald, and if you stab them with a sword they don't die. What more do you want?" you might ask (and someone from Discworld did ask). But this is slashdot, and pedantry runs rampant.

    [1] Who am I kidding? I love to nitpick. It justifies my obsession with reading discussions on slashdot.

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  12. Re:Status updates for a dead person? by corbettw · · Score: 5, Funny

    Werewolves aren't undead. I'd replace them in your list with "middle management".

    --
    God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
  13. Re:Status updates for a dead person? by IGnatius+T+Foobar · · Score: 4, Funny

    "It just so happens that your status here is only mostly dead. There's a difference between mostly dead, and all dead."

    "So... it's complicated?"

    --
    Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
  14. Re:Status updates for a dead person? by interploy · · Score: 3, Funny

    What if they were Buddhist and believed in reincarnation?

    "Status: Possibly a cat"