Planning your digital legacyafternote, digital legacy, memorial page
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Years ago, even just going back a decade or two, when an unexpected death occurred it was up to somebody to find out in the obituaries or by talking to somebody else. The problem is that you don’t really get to pick your own terms when it comes to leaving this world, so making sure that you depart with your legacy intact and your last will provided for is actually a lot more difficult than it used to be.
Dying in this day and age is really a double whammy; it involves the actual physical self, and now, the digital self. The more active you are online the bigger your digital self becomes. While the physical self dies, the digital self stays hanging out in cyberspace for who knows how long. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., all ensure that we live on even after we are gone.
So what’s one to do about that digital legacy left behind? Services like Afternote have become far more popular, making sure that you leave everything behind in the right manner is hugely important. Leaving a digital legacy, provides the opportunity to manage your affairs when the worst occurs. Messages can be sent to the right people after your passing, and should you choose, you can have your e-mail and social media profiles removed entirely from the web.
You can even create a memorial page or have your account removed straight away – which do you think you would prefer? It’s the chance to leave behind all the content and details that you want about your life and your ending, and gives you the chance to make sure that nothing is left unsaid to your loved ones.
So what happens should you choose not to have a memorial page? Well the truth is if the social media platforms are not informed of someone’s passing, its business as usual. For some, reminders on social media are comforting and help with the grieving process. Reminiscing through comments and posts back and forth through the years will take you back in time and bring fond memories. However for others social media reminders of a loved one’s death can be extremely heart-breaking.
With Facebook, If a deceased user’s timeline is not memorialised, that profile could appear in Facebook suggestions, maybe as “People You May Know “or “suggest this page to Kelly”. Their birthdays will reappear year after year, prompting ‘Happy Birthday’ wishes from individuals unaware of their death. Many profiles will continue to surface in Sponsored Stories, which promote users’ activity and likes from months and years past (e.g., “Kelly likes Afternote”).
Gary Rycroft, a member of the Law Society Wills and Equity Committee, said ‘people should not assume family members know where to look online and to make details of their digital life absolutely clear’.
However, today we entrust huge amounts of faith in the internet. We happily store our bank details, our address and other important factual information. Digital footprints are growing, and seeing to it that these footprints stop at the end of the line forever is very important. Even once you pass on from this world, your digital assets will be taken care of and looked after as per your instructions – this makes a digital legacy so important to anyone who thinks they might need one.
By organising a digital legacy, you can guarantee that your assets are distributed equally and fairly, and you can make sure that every goodbye message you wanted to send out there is actually already active. Should you leave the account in the hands of a family member, they can choose to delete the account at a later date.
Does this sound like something you should be trying to plan for in the future?
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Years ago, even just going back a decade or two, when an unexpected death occurred it was up to somebody to find out in the obituaries or by talking to somebody else. The problem is that you don’t really get to pick your own terms when it comes to leaving this world, so making sure that you depart with your legacy intact and your last will provided for is actually a lot more difficult than it used to be.
Dying in this day and age is really a double whammy; it involves the actual physical self, and now, the digital self. The more active you are online the bigger your digital self becomes. While the physical self dies, the digital self stays hanging out in cyberspace for who knows how long. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., all ensure that we live on even after we are gone.
So what’s one to do about that digital legacy left behind? Services like Afternote have become far more popular, making sure that you leave everything behind in the right manner is hugely important. Leaving a digital legacy, provides the opportunity to manage your affairs when the worst occurs. Messages can be sent to the right people after your passing, and should you choose, you can have your e-mail and social media profiles removed entirely from the web.
You can even create a memorial page or have your account removed straight away – which do you think you would prefer? It’s the chance to leave behind all the content and details that you want about your life and your ending, and gives you the chance to make sure that nothing is left unsaid to your loved ones.
So what happens should you choose not to have a memorial page? Well the truth is if the social media platforms are not informed of someone’s passing, its business as usual. For some, reminders on social media are comforting and help with the grieving process. Reminiscing through comments and posts back and forth through the years will take you back in time and bring fond memories. However for others social media reminders of a loved one’s death can be extremely heart-breaking.
With Facebook, If a deceased user’s timeline is not memorialised, that profile could appear in Facebook suggestions, maybe as “People You May Know “or “suggest this page to Kelly”. Their birthdays will reappear year after year, prompting ‘Happy Birthday’ wishes from individuals unaware of their death. Many profiles will continue to surface in Sponsored Stories, which promote users’ activity and likes from months and years past (e.g., “Kelly likes Afternote”).
Gary Rycroft, a member of the Law Society Wills and Equity Committee, said ‘people should not assume family members know where to look online and to make details of their digital life absolutely clear’.
However, today we entrust huge amounts of faith in the internet. We happily store our bank details, our address and other important factual information. Digital footprints are growing, and seeing to it that these footprints stop at the end of the line forever is very important. Even once you pass on from this world, your digital assets will be taken care of and looked after as per your instructions – this makes a digital legacy so important to anyone who thinks they might need one.
By organising a digital legacy, you can guarantee that your assets are distributed equally and fairly, and you can make sure that every goodbye message you wanted to send out there is actually already active. Should you leave the account in the hands of a family member, they can choose to delete the account at a later date.
Does this sound like something you should be trying to plan for in the future?
