Ever called a bereaving family member to hear the voice of a mourned dead one on the answering machine? It’s creepy and sad and turns up numerous emotions. Now that older users are signing up to join Facebook, they’re often prodded by Facebook algorithms to “get back in touch” with friends who have died.

Following the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, members begged the company to allow them to commemorate the victims. Now member profiles can be “memorialized,” or converted into tribute pages that are stripped of some personal information and no longer appear in search results. Grieving friends can still post messages on those pages. Source

Automation is the key to success with 500 MILLION users worldwide. Getting the death of a friend wrong isn’t an option. One user was locked out of his own profile after dying. Searching the HELP pages offered no, “I’m not dead yet,” advise.