Facebook announced on Tuesday that it has added a Tributes section to the platform for memorialized accounts where people can honor and share stories of those who have passed away.
According to Facebook, "over 30 million people view memorialized profiles every month to post stories, commemorate milestones, and remember those who have passed away." To better support those who are touched by these losses, the company announced that it has added a Tributes section for these accounts where family and friends can post and honor their loved ones.
This section will not replace the account's Timeline; Instead, a second, separate tab will be introduced. Those who manage these accounts will be given additional controls.
Legacy contacts are the people who the profile owner designated as the person who will have control over their account in the event that they pass away. As of today, these individuals can moderate the posts shared to the Tributes section by being able to edit the tagging settings, remove tags, and decide who can post and who can see the posts. Parents of minors can now request to be their legacy contact.
Previously, anyone could request that a profile be memorialized. Today, Facebook announced that only friends and family members can make that request. When a memorial request is approved, the platform's AI functions to keep that individual from showing up in painful ways like via an invite suggestion or birthday reminder.
Facebook states that these decisions were made based on feedback from experts and academics, as well as from those of varying religions and cultural backgrounds.
