In the Media: Farewelling’s Tips for Handling Social Media After Death

Thanks to Considerable for including Farewelling’s fabulous Funeral Guru Liz Karansky in a much-needed article about what to do with social media accounts when a loved one dies. Liz and other funeral industry and tech experts offer some solid tips and advice for how to navigate this ever-more-important part of our lives.

Facebook and Instagram When Someone Dies: To Close or Not to Close?

The answers depend on at least two things: your loved one’s wishes (if you know what they wanted) and what type of social media account they had. While some types of personal accounts may be better closed (think opinion sites like Twitter, for example), others such as Facebook can actually be a wonderful tool for memorializing a friend of family member.

What Happens to Social Media Accounts After They're Gone?

We don't like to be negative, but after someone dies, if you don't take action on their social media accounts, bad things such as hacking or even identity theft can happen. For this reason, even though it can be difficult and frustrating, it’s best not to ignore a loved one’s social media accounts after they’ve passed away. If you’d like more help with this, we’ve put together an even more in-depth article about how to deal with a variety of different types of social media accounts after death, including how to close or memorialize social media accounts. Check it out here.

What Will Happen to My Social Media When I Die? 

The great news is, you can be largely in control of that. You can think about it now and share your wishes with those who love you. Social media is now an increasingly common element in estate planning. At Farewelling we really believe that advance planning is a gift to our loved ones, and in this day and age that planning includes thinking about what we want for social media after we pass away.

We’ve Got a Free Tool for You!

If you want to make a plan for your own Farewelling, here’s a handy dandy free checklist and worksheet we put together and yep, it includes questions about what to do with social media accounts after a death.