Facebook Finds the Dead

Even with everything Facebook knows about its roughly 500 million users, it seems to be having a hard time grappling with death. Many older users have received invitations from Facebook to get in touch with some old friends, which is fantastic, except for the part where the old friend is actually deceased.

Facebook is quick to offer helpful nudges about things like birthdays, events, or even just to catch up with a long lost buddy. Unfortunately the company sill hasn't figured out an automated device to conclude that a person has died. This can lead to some painful or just plain awkward moments for some of its users.

Facebook says that it has been trying to get a handle on the ghosts, however it is not easy. Given the size of the site and people passing away every day, its hard for the social network to keep up.

When Facebook started it was for young college students. But now with people over the age of 65 joining the popular social network at a faster rate than any other age group, Facebook has had to deal with the Grim Reaper head on. People over 65 have the highest mortality rate, so this awkward problem will not be going away any time soon.

For some, seeing a familiar face of a deceased loved one can be comforting. But for others, it only brings pain. Not to mention its kind of creepy if you see your dead friend trying to connect with you.

Following the Virginia Tech shootings of 2007, members begged the company to allow them to commemorate the tragically fallen victims. As a result, Facebook pages can now be memorialized, meaning they are converted into tribute pages that no longer appear on search results.

Of course, the company would still have the problem of trying to figure out if a user is actually dead. There aren't enough employees to go around, so the Facebook team is going to have to come up with a way to do this with computers.

Another option would be to let members do much of the work, which is precisely what Facebook already does. In order to memorialize a page, someone would have to fill out a form and provide proof of death. A Facebook staff member will then review this and take necessary action.

This option, however, is not well publicized. Consequently, a ghost pops up every once in a while.

Other problems include the fact that large scanning software would invite pranks, as the forms to memorialize a page already have. People have already been locked out of their own pages due to mistakes or similar sounding names in obituaries. And unfortunately for these people, Facebook does not have an"I'm not really dead let me sign in" option on their FAQ page.

While these are issues that Facebook would rather not have to address, it is a part of life. Death is unavoidable, and so the social media company must find a way to incorporate it into the internet experience.

Sources:
New York Times