What happens to someone's online social media profiles and content when they die? What have internet companies done to combat this inevitable problem?

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Noah Green Profile
Noah Green answered

Well, it may depend on what the family wants. One family, could send an e-mail to the company and request that it be deleted. Another family, may decide to keep posting inspirational quotes and whatnot as him/her, to simply motivate others or leave a legacy.

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Dan Banks
Dan Banks commented
What if there was a disagreement between the relatives of the deceased? Or they didn't have any family? Should there be an online 'will' that the user has to fill in when they sign up for a social media account?
Noah Green
Noah Green commented
After 180 days of inactivity, I believe it'd be reasonable for the account to be labeled as null and deleted automatically. If they don't have the systems for automatic deletion, then they should have a notification system set up that lets them know when an account has reached that number of inactive days. They can then manually terminate the account.
Filip Kuhtic Profile
Filip Kuhtic answered

I have to agree with Noah Green on this one. If someone is not using his/hers account for a period of time that account should be paralyzed and the owner contacted and if the owner of the account does not respond in a reasonable time the account should be deleted. I can't say what amount of inactivity is ok for users because every website , forum and social media site has its own needs and wishes. I can say that i believe that social networks don't have a clear rule on this kind of things because they all want to boost their user numbers.

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