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Facebook Memorial Mode: I'm not dead yet (thulbourn.com)
101 points by makmanalp 103 days ago | 17 comments


26 points by kirubakaran 103 days ago | link

I see a movie coming... serial killer memorializes victims' Facebook accounts 24 hours before the murder...

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6 points by jrockway 103 days ago | link

I could see this as a "Law & Order" plot. They have done a few other stories involving social-networking sites.

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17 points by thras 103 days ago | link

So they just memorialize the account without sending a "Hello, are you really dead email?" to check first. Design flaw.

(Hmm, maybe we need a form with "Just a flesh wound" or "I'm feeling better!" options.)

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7 points by noonespecial 103 days ago | link

(Hmm, maybe we need a form with "Just a flesh wound" or "I'm feeling better!" options.)

Or at the very least, a "pining for the fjords" checkbox...

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2 points by jrockway 103 days ago | link

What if you're just resting?

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-4 points by DanielStraight 103 days ago | link

Most of Facebook is a design flaw. Everything since the stalker feed.

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17 points by pwmanagerdied 103 days ago | link

Well, that didn't take long.

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4 points by mechanical_fish 103 days ago | link

"If your first version is so impressive that trolls don't make fun of it, you waited too long to launch."

Methinks revision 2.0 of the Mark Your Friend Dead button is right around the corner. ;)

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2 points by maukdaddy 103 days ago | link

cough I told you so =)

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=905436

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2 points by nadam 103 days ago | link

The solution seems to be straightforward to me:

When an account is in memorial state the account holder should be able to log in, her account then should change automatically into normal state without any administrator approval, and she should be able to prohibit her freinds to put her account into memorial state again (with a checkbox).

As she is the only person who may know her password it is not logical not to allow her to log in.

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5 points by robgough 103 days ago | link

I don't think that when the account holder logs in that it should automatically revert. It's more than possible spouses etc. would have a dearly departed's password.

But they should certainly still be able to log in, and once logged in have the option to recover back from memorial mode - without needing to go through support.

Edit: Also, it would be nice to have a feature where I can nominate an "in case of emergency" contact that, if my account falls into memorial mode, they will then gain access to it... to maybe post a little more info about what happened, or contact friends that they might not necessarily know themselves, but would like to invite to the funeral?

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1 point by jrockway 103 days ago | link

The great part about being dead is that you probably won't care too much about any of this. It won't be your problem, anyway.

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1 point by robgough 102 days ago | link

Perhaps arrogantly, but I believe that if it happens when we still care in any way about our Facebook accounts - and not the next big thing - then I imagine that it will be upsetting for my friends and family, and I care now that it is as easy on them as possible.

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1 point by grosen 103 days ago | link

Wouldn't surprise me if this was an automated system that malfunctioned

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3 points by bendtheblock 103 days ago | link

That the 'death verification' failed? It says in the OP that, as a joke, his friend emailed FB to actually say he was dead.

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2 points by Vincentvwy 103 days ago | link

Not to mention that his name just sort of looked like the one in the actual memorial.

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1 point by bmunro 103 days ago | link

and that that name was the name of the reverend conducting the funeral service, not the deceased

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