4 ms·

"Facebook tends to “memorialise” their account – freeze them so they can be viewed, but providing no access to past messages. [...] Facebook also offended a fai

by Udo 11y ago

"Facebook tends to “memorialise” their account – freeze them so they can be viewed, but providing no access to past messages. [...] Facebook also offended a fair number of bereaved people with its Year in Review clips [...] The problem was that for some, these were pictures of dead loved ones." Here is something I really don't understand. For some reason it's apparently preferred, both by Facebook as well as people overall, to rub out a deceased person's digital existence - as opposed to preserving a bit of their life and writing for posterity. To me, the "memorialization" of FB accounts looks like an almost cynical choice of words considering what it actually entails. Do we really prefer to pretend dead people never existed in the first place?

Sir_Substance 11y ago
>Do we really prefer to pretend dead people never existed in the first place? I think that we consider facebook, a commercial entity based on data-mining every scrap of information it holds, an inappropriate place to memorialise our loved ones.
- Udo 11y ago
  That's a separate question though. Fact of the matter is people do tend to put an enormous part of their lives on social media platforms. So it's on there right now, which is too late to consider if it was a good idea to trust an unreliable medium to steward your data to begin with. What I'm concerned about is that when a friend or family member dies, you have to cope with the loss of the person, but on top of that Facebook forcibly arranges for you the loss of all corresponding data as well. They're effectively saying "Well, this guy's dead now, so we're taking away the documentation of all shared memories with that person. We're honoring the deceased by erasing their digital existence as best as we can."
  - grkvlt 11y ago
    > we're taking away the documentation of all shared memories with that person They aren't taking anything away. See my earlier comment about what memorialization actually entails. Nothing is erased, the content is preserved for family and friends. Of course the account status is changed, it would be inappropriate for a dead person's account to show up in lists of contacts to invite to events, and so on.
DanBC 11y ago
> Facebook also offended a fair number of bereaved people with its Year in Review clips [...] The problem was that for some, these were pictures of dead loved ones." There was a recent ad on FB from a maker of teapods that said something like "share a cup of tea with your dad". Unfortunately, that ad was shown to people whose fathers were dead or abusive. My dad died before FB so I've never had any account in my friends list that an algorithm could consider to be my father. I'd link to it but I genuinely have no idea how to link to a Facebook post. :-/ https://www.facebook.com/TassimoUK?pnref=story https://www.facebook.com/TassimoUK?pnref=story and the "Share a cuppa with your dad and show him how much you care this Father’s Day ‪#‎ChooseNotToChoose‬" which has about 500 comments of mostly people saying their father is dead.
- madeofpalk 11y ago
  > There was a recent ad on FB from a maker of teapods that said something like "share a cup of tea with your dad". Unfortunately, that ad was shown to people whose fathers were dead or abusive. My dad died before FB so I've never had any account in my friends list that an algorithm could consider to be my father. I'd link to it but I genuinely have no idea how to link to a Facebook post. :-/ Is that really fair? How is that different from an ad on TV saying the same thing?
  - DanBC 11y ago
    TV ads never claim to harvest my data to make ads "more relevant" to "my interests". That's a thing that Facebook and most online add networks claim.
    - a3n 11y ago
      > TV ads never claim to harvest my data to make ads "more relevant" to "my interests". For now.
    - madeofpalk 11y ago
      True, however the 'ad' in particular was just a generic (perhaps promoted?) status update to a #Brand page https://www.facebook.com/TassimoUK https://www.facebook.com/TassimoUK
grkvlt 11y ago
> preserving a bit of their life and writing for posterity This is exactly what * memorialization* does, as I understand it. The account is preserved as "Remembering XYZ" but does not apprar in public lists. Existing content will still be available, but it can no longer be used to post new messages or photographs. Family and friends can still post comments and pass on condolences. It seems appropriate, and a sensible and respectful choice on their part. Of course, there are always going to be people who want the accounts to be deleted, and Facebook should accomodate these wishes. But memorialisation seems like the right option for most people. See here for the actual policy: https://www.facebook.com/help/103897939701143 https://www.facebook.com/help/103897939701143

by Udo 11y ago

Sir_Substance 11y ago

>Do we really prefer to pretend dead people never existed in the first place? I think that we consider facebook, a commercial entity based on data-mining every scrap of information it holds, an inappropriate place to memorialise our loved ones.

Udo 11y ago
That's a separate question though. Fact of the matter is people do tend to put an enormous part of their lives on social media platforms. So it's on there right now, which is too late to consider if it was a good idea to trust an unreliable medium to steward your data to begin with. What I'm concerned about is that when a friend or family member dies, you have to cope with the loss of the person, but on top of that Facebook forcibly arranges for you the loss of all corresponding data as well. They're effectively saying "Well, this guy's dead now, so we're taking away the documentation of all shared memories with that person. We're honoring the deceased by erasing their digital existence as best as we can."
- grkvlt 11y ago
  > we're taking away the documentation of all shared memories with that person They aren't taking anything away. See my earlier comment about what memorialization actually entails. Nothing is erased, the content is preserved for family and friends. Of course the account status is changed, it would be inappropriate for a dead person's account to show up in lists of contacts to invite to events, and so on.

DanBC 11y ago

> Facebook also offended a fair number of bereaved people with its Year in Review clips [...] The problem was that for some, these were pictures of dead loved ones." There was a recent ad on FB from a maker of teapods that said something like "share a cup of tea with your dad". Unfortunately, that ad was shown to people whose fathers were dead or abusive. My dad died before FB so I've never had any account in my friends list that an algorithm could consider to be my father. I'd link to it but I genuinely have no idea how to link to a Facebook post. :-/ https://www.facebook.com/TassimoUK?pnref=story https://www.facebook.com/TassimoUK?pnref=story and the "Share a cuppa with your dad and show him how much you care this Father’s Day ‪#‎ChooseNotToChoose‬" which has about 500 comments of mostly people saying their father is dead.

madeofpalk 11y ago
> There was a recent ad on FB from a maker of teapods that said something like "share a cup of tea with your dad". Unfortunately, that ad was shown to people whose fathers were dead or abusive. My dad died before FB so I've never had any account in my friends list that an algorithm could consider to be my father. I'd link to it but I genuinely have no idea how to link to a Facebook post. :-/ Is that really fair? How is that different from an ad on TV saying the same thing?
- DanBC 11y ago
  TV ads never claim to harvest my data to make ads "more relevant" to "my interests". That's a thing that Facebook and most online add networks claim.
  - a3n 11y ago
    > TV ads never claim to harvest my data to make ads "more relevant" to "my interests". For now.
  - madeofpalk 11y ago
    True, however the 'ad' in particular was just a generic (perhaps promoted?) status update to a #Brand page https://www.facebook.com/TassimoUK https://www.facebook.com/TassimoUK

grkvlt 11y ago

> preserving a bit of their life and writing for posterity This is exactly what * memorialization* does, as I understand it. The account is preserved as "Remembering XYZ" but does not apprar in public lists. Existing content will still be available, but it can no longer be used to post new messages or photographs. Family and friends can still post comments and pass on condolences. It seems appropriate, and a sensible and respectful choice on their part. Of course, there are always going to be people who want the accounts to be deleted, and Facebook should accomodate these wishes. But memorialisation seems like the right option for most people. See here for the actual policy: https://www.facebook.com/help/103897939701143 https://www.facebook.com/help/103897939701143