The article discusses a study by two researchers at the University of Toronto on the methods and consequences of mourning on Facebook. The authors recommend offering “digital estate options” to determine who can control the profile postmortem, locking a dead person’s account and automatically deleting it after 50 years. They also suggest enabling Facebook friends the same access to the page, respecting the privacy filters, and disabling direct messaging to prevent shenanigans. In the study, traditional publicly recorded asynchronous modes of grieving were compared with Facebook’s asynchronous features. Facebook mourners have a quick outlet for their emotions and a means of timely group support, but these actions directly affect the online curation of the deceased’s self and memory and also create an environment of competition among mourners. The benefits and complications of using Facebook during bereavement are shaped by the policies outlined by the social media platform.
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