3 Tips for Closing Social Media After Someone Dies

Funerals have always been a place for family and friends to gather to speak, support, and pay respect to a passed loved one’s immediate family. It’s also a space to share and reminisce on their memory. But after the procession and reception, what happens to the deceased’s social media?

Some families choose to remove the social media accounts of their loved ones, memorialize them, or privatize them to where only immediate family members can search and visit profiles. Here are tips everyone should follow for closing social media after someone dies.

Contact the Social Media Company

Contact the social media company to help close any social media pages you can’t access. Social media companies can walk you through how to close the accounts. Other companies can close the accounts for you but require proof of death and relation to the account holder.

Before having the companies shutter the accounts, make sure to take screenshots of your favorite posts and memories and then store them somewhere safe. Encourage friends, followers, and others to document their favorite memories before permanently closing every social page.

Document Every Social Page A Deceased Person Had

Your family member may or may not have had an active social media presence. Some social media users create private or anonymous accounts no one knows about. Getting a record of every account the deceased person had is essential.

You can search for their name through search engines, which list profiles of that person’s name, username, or other identifiable details. After collecting these accounts, you can decide how to handle the account closure.

Decide What To Keep, Delete, and Memorialize

Deciding what to do with social media pages is difficult. It’s even more complicated when no designated person gets assigned the social media management task. If your loved one did not provide directions on handling their social accounts, you must decide what others can post to their profile, tag them in, and more.

The best advice is to decide what to keep, delete, and memorialize when figuring out how to handle social media profiles after someone dies. If you choose to keep anything, keep it on a social media site like Facebook, as they can memorialize pages so nothing is ever removed.

Deleting is a good idea if you don’t want old posts resurfacing that could get scrutinized. Anyone you don’t want to find the pages won’t be able to track digital footprints because the page gets removed from the social media platform.

Memorializing is a great idea! And it’s one you can do if you want a better way to reflect and reminisce on days when you miss your loved one most. If a recently passed loved one has any memorable posts, consider memorializing that post onto custom laminated memorial bookmarks. These bookmarks will be a great item to use daily to honor their memory.

Let’s continue to honor the memory of every person in your life. When you are ready, use these tips to assist in closing down social media pages after a loved one’s death.