By MIRIAM SHUMWAY
The Daily Universe, Brigham Young U. via
UWIRE- For some, Facebook is life.
For others, it is a place to celebrate a life that was once lived.
After a Facebook user passes away, family members can request for the account to be closed or turn the account into a memorialized page as a tribute to the life of that loved one, only accessible to confirmed friends.
“The Wall remains, so friends and family can leave posts in remembrance,” the Help Center reads.
Tahna Black, 20, an undeclared major from St. George, said her friend’s sister died three years ago. Since then, the woman’s profile has become a memorial site.
“I actually am glad that Facebook has that feature because then you’re always able to remember her, and it’s kind of a celebration,” Black said.
Facebook has designed the memorial pages differently than a normal profile; the profile is never part of friend suggestions and a viewer cannot look at past information and status updates.
Only confirmed friends can find the profile in a search.
The Facebook Blog recorded why the idea took hold and the benefits to memorializing a page.
“When someone leaves us, they don’t leave our memories or our social network,” the blog reads.
“To reflect that reality, we created the idea of ‘memorialized’ profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who’ve passed.”
The idea of sharing memories is comforting, Black said. She said it is nice to have a place everyone can join to commemorate her friend.
“If you thought of a certain memory, you can share it with others,” Black said.
Memorialized profiles consist of posts from friends and family, pictures and videos that are uploaded about the person who died.
The page can also be a place to promote memorial runs or scholarships that were put in place.
According to the Facebook Help Center, the most important requirement needed to memorialize a page is proof of death.
The process also requires the requester’s relationship to the person and the account e-mail address.
Facebook is a social network that has 500 million active users.
People spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook, according to Facebook’s website.