Choose your digital heir and keep your Facebook alive

We have so many people who were very social and active on social media, their social media profiles died with them. Now Facebook is going to introduce a new element, which can let you chose your heir; after you he/ she will take care of your Facebook ID like your other belongings.

Facebook is introducing a "legacy contract" to accounts which will allow a trusted friend or family member to take control of a user's profile after they die.

The social network said that once they had been notified of a user's death, it would "memorialize" the profile and allow the designated trustee to post a message to appear at the top of the timeline as well as respond to new friend requests and change the profile and cover photos.

"Facebook is a place to share and connect with friends and family", Facebook said in a post on its official blog.

"For many of us, it's also a place to remember and honor those we've lost. When a person passes away, their account can become a memorial of their life, friendships and experiences. If someone chooses, they may give their legacy contact permission to download an archive of the photos, posts and profile information they shared on Facebook” said on blog.

"Other settings will remain the same as before the account was memorialized. The legacy contact will not be able to log in as the person who passed away or see that person's private messages" they added.

Until now, accounts were memorialized by Facebook and could still be viewed, but could not be accessed or edited by anyone else.

This system will be working in UK only but Facebook said it would look to roll out this new feature outside of the US in the near future.

A "digital heir" in a person's will would be acknowledged as the legacy contract holder.