As social media becomes more and more a part of our lives, those of us with an account should consider a new option that Facebook launched, designating a legacy contact.

Many of us know a person who was on Facebook prior to their untimely demise, yet their profile remains. While it may be an unnerving thought, the fact is everyone eventually passes away, and by now a large portion of the population has some sort of social media account.

So the question remains, what happens to all the stuff you posted online when “that” time comes?

For the most part, it’s still there. And that means someone will have to either delete it, or manage the account as a legacy contact.

The newly established legacy contact option allows the Facebook user to designate someone they trust to manage their account, in a limited capacity. 

Upon the person’s passing, the legacy contact would submit a request to Facebook to make one of two changes to the account, to either delete it, or convert it to a “Remembering” account. While the delete option is self-explanatory, changing it to a “Remembering” account is also just as it sounds.

The latter option adds the term above the name on the profile. At that point the legacy contact can change the profile picture and cover photo of the account, and a couple of other things. 

Facebook has created this option as a means to allow friends and family to remember the deceased by being able to still view all they have shared online.

This option can be initiated online, or via the legal method of including that name in a will.

The most difficult part of this will be to determine who will take this responsibility. The best choice would be a sibling, considering they are probably online anyway, and would be more apt to keep up with the account.

So give it some thought, but not too much.