Facebook Suggests Reconnecting With the Dead
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: Facebook, reconnect, dead, users | Themes: The Internet
Facebook recently rolled out new features and vexed users immediately began complaining about the changes. However, whether Jack or Jane likes the new news and live feed options doesn't hold a candle to what people with deceased friends are experiencing.
Changes to the social networking site include a "reconnect" feature that suggests you write on a friend's wall if you haven't contacted with him or her in a while. Obviously, this is just an algorithm that throws up people you haven't interacted with in a while but Mashable cites several tweets from Facebookers who have been encouraged to reconnect with dead friends.
@revbingo: Facebook just suggested I reconnect with a friend. A dead one.
@sulphate: Facebook just told me to reconnect with Justin. I would if he hadn't died seven months ago. Facebook, you fail.
@neetee: ironic that facebook is suggesting I "reconnect" with a friend who was murdered this year… :(
Facebook has solved the problem with what it's calling 'memorialized profiles.' This means that users can report a friend as dead and as long as they submit proof (in the form of an obituary or news article), Facebook will lock down that person's profile. Status updates are removed, no one can log into the account and only already-approved friends will see the profile in search results. Likewise, the only users allowed to leave comments on the person's wall are those who have already been confirmed as friends.
Max Kelly, Head of Security at Facebook, announced the feature in Facebook's blog.
"We understand how difficult it can be for people to be reminded of those who are no longer with them, which is why it's important when someone passes away that their friends or family contact Facebook to request that a profile be memorialized," said Kelly.
"For instance, just last week, we introduced new types of Suggestions that appear on the right-hand side of the home page and remind people to take actions with friends who need help on Facebook," he continued. "By memorializing the account of someone who has passed away, people will no longer see that person appear in their Suggestions."
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This feature should of been around for a while by now.
Facebook and it's un-needed, uncalled for changes that everyone hates and no one likes. Can you imagine if they ran a country??
I hate facebook.
how should facebook know if someone has passed away or not? dead/alive/zombie will now be a new option in the info tab.
If I haven't contacted someone on FB in ages then that's because I probably prefer to leave it that way. I remember the people important to me, and don't need FB to do it for me.
Facebook and it's un-needed, uncalled for changes that everyone hates and no one likes. Can you imagine if they ran a country??
and how would this be different from America?
i hope the site is humorous tonight......
A classmate of mine passed away at the age of 21 over the summer. I load up facebook and it tells me I should reconnect with that girl. It was a little frustrating to say the least.
Right, because this is facebook's fault for adding a useful feature, and not the people who create facebook pages for dead people. I'm sorry, but i have friends pages for deceased friends and facebook did exactly what they talked about in the article. Did i whine about it? no, i realized that facebook is *gasp* not a living entity and that it is in fact *gasp* code on a machine.
Seriously, this is like whining that facebook suggested you be friends with some person who you just happen to hate, and they're supposed to magically know that you hate that person and should never have ruined your mood by suggesting you friend that person.
Right, because this is facebook's fault for adding a useful feature, and not the people who create facebook pages for dead people. I'm sorry, but i have friends pages for deceased friends and facebook did exactly what they talked about in the article. Did i whine about it? no, i realized that facebook is *gasp* not a living entity and that it is in fact *gasp* code on a machine.Seriously, this is like whining that facebook suggested you be friends with some person who you just happen to hate, and they're supposed to magically know that you hate that person and should never have ruined your mood by suggesting you friend that person.
I think it's more because it can be emotionally heart wrenching to be reminded of a friend's death that way. There should be some way to switch off the FB profiles of deceased people to avoid this, if this feature is indeed absolutely necessary.
how sweet for fb to pour salt in a wound.
I think it's more because it can be emotionally heart wrenching to be reminded of a friend's death that way. There should be some way to switch off the FB profiles of deceased people to avoid this, if this feature is indeed absolutely necessary.
I totally understand that it can be heart wrenching, but people also need to be more realistic and rational about these things. Harboring some form of hatred or animosity towards facebook because a page for a deceased friend happened to meet the requirement of an algorithm that causes it to show up on your reconnect suggestion list is just being ridiculous.
An example would be a song you and your deceased friend were both huge fans of coming on the radio and causing you to remember times spent with that person. Would it be reasonable for someone to call the radio station and bitch at them that they happened to play this particular song which had meaning to them and their deceased friend, and they should be ashamed of themselves for making the person feel bad? This is in the same ball park of absurdity at harboring hate for facebook and saying they "fail" b/c of this situation.
I'm not trying to bust balls here, b/c again, this exact situation happened to me with a deceased friend, so i really do understand, its frustrating. But i just think people are looking to create an issue where there isn't one.
Also, i agree with you, there should be a way for someone who is on the friends list of a person to send an email to facebook admins to state that "hey, this person is deceased, is there any way their profile can be turned off, etc". It would be very easy for the FB admins to send an email to the account, to confirm that if they don't receive a response, its a reasonable assumption that the person who sent the email wasn't maliciously trying to turn off an active account, and then they could switch the account off.
it just shows facebook for what it really is, a heartless half arsed money making machine (apparently...) that feeds off of everyone's need to announce every F$%@ing little thing to the world. I don't need a machine to remind me who my friends are.
I feel like they are opening a whole new can of worms. How many people are going to try to log into their Facebook, only to find out they are "dead". I'm not sure their qualifications are for "proof" of a death, but I'm pretty sure anyone with ill intentions and Photoshop could just create a whole new problem. How about just not suggesting reconnection on a profile that hasn't logged in with the past 2 weeks?
Oops, trial & error.
Nevermind dead friends, the reactions I'm reading would suggest that facebook itself is alive. Facebook as of yet has not suggested that I reconnect with any of my dead friends but if it did, my reaction would simply be "lol, silly facebook"
f@ck facebook!!!f@ck twitter!!!f@ck myspace!!! f@ck them all!!!!!
Facebook and it's un-needed, uncalled for changes that everyone hates and no one likes. Can you imagine if they ran a country??
Wow be quiet please.
Right, because this is facebook's fault for adding a useful feature, and not the people who create facebook pages for dead people. I'm sorry, but i have friends pages for deceased friends and facebook did exactly what they talked about in the article. Did i whine about it? no, i realized that facebook is *gasp* not a living entity and that it is in fact *gasp* code on a machine.Seriously, this is like whining that facebook suggested you be friends with some person who you just happen to hate, and they're supposed to magically know that you hate that person and should never have ruined your mood by suggesting you friend that person.
it just shows facebook for what it really is, a heartless half arsed money making machine (apparently...) that feeds off of everyone's need to announce every F$%@ing little thing to the world. I don't need a machine to remind me who my friends are.
Um hey, you're using Tom's which isn't much different... neither is Google for that matter... I'd guess 90% of the internet follows suit... Twitter is more pointless than all of that and yet everyone is obsessed. I don't get any of you.
This happened to my GF the other day. She was understandably upset by it.
i facebook dead people...
facebook cares more about its own expansion than its users... or better yet lets call them customers since they are what keep facebook running
Are you people kidding me? Anyone who has a problem with Facebook needs to remember you have the option of NOT USING IT. Just like some of "reminded" me that I do not have to read and post comments on Tom's. Not that I needed to be reminded but still... get a GRIP.
HAHAHAHA I was just telling somebody about this yesterday cause facebook did it to me. lol
LOL! This reminds me of a form letter that was sent out from a company I worked for years ago. Someone, somehow managed to not only write up but send out hundreds of these form letters that SHOULD have said "Dear Mr. or Mrs....Our records show you have demonstrated a desire......", but INSTEAD it said "Dear Mr. or Ms.....Our records show you have demons..." Well that did not go over to well.
add me MW - Lvl 274
Add me MW - LvL 274
Right, because this is facebook's fault for adding a useful feature, and not the people who create facebook pages for dead people. I'm sorry, but i have friends pages for deceased friends and facebook did exactly what they talked about in the article. Did i whine about it? no, i realized that facebook is *gasp* not a living entity and that it is in fact *gasp* code on a machine.Seriously, this is like whining that facebook suggested you be friends with some person who you just happen to hate, and they're supposed to magically know that you hate that person and should never have ruined your mood by suggesting you friend that person.
kutark i agree with you. While it is unfortunate that facebook is reminding people to reconnect with people who have passed on, facebook is not at fault. FB isnt responsible for the persons death or the pain that comes with it. FB simply uses a code and posts it on your page. I'm sorry for your loss everyone, I have lost friends who still have an active FB page too, but you cant blame the messenger.
Are you people kidding me? Anyone who has a problem with Facebook needs to remember you have the option of NOT USING IT. Just like some of "reminded" me that I do not have to read and post comments on Tom's. Not that I needed to be reminded but still... get a GRIP.
Exactly, you use a service in which you dont have access to the code. You certainly have the option to use the service you dont pay for anyway.
i facebook dead people...
Memorable quote!
Back on the topic, I agree with kutark here. Facebook is a machine, it can't know who's dead or alive. If no one takes the time to inform the admins of a user passing away, things like that are bound to happen. I think memorialization is a good feature and, while it could have been done earlier, it's never too late to do a good deed.
i facebook dead people...
Necrophiliac?
GET AWAY FROM ME DUNMER!
Facebook and it's un-needed, uncalled for changes that everyone hates and no one likes. Can you imagine if they ran a country??
I take it you were planning on living forever, then?