Facebook has rolled out a series of new features designed to help users cope with the pain of a friend or loved one dying.
When the owner of a Facebook account passes away, their profile is ‘memorialised’ so people can pay tribute to them.
But now the social network has altered its systems so that only friends and family members can memorialise an account.
And if the account hasn’t yet been switched into death mode, Facebook will use artificial intelligence to stop the account ‘showing up in places where it might cause distress’.
This means that you won’t receive a reminder about their birthday or a recommendation suggesting you invite them to a party or other event.
In a blog post, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg wrote: ‘People turn to Facebook to find community during life’s highs and lows. We know the loss of a friend or family member can be devastating — and we want Facebook to be a place where people can support each other while honouring the memory of their loved ones.
‘Today we’re sharing updates to make this experience even more supportive for our community: a new tributes section for memorialized accounts; additional controls for people who manage memorialized accounts; and improved AI to keep the profile of a deceased loved one from appearing in painful ways.
‘These changes are the result of feedback we heard from people of different religions and cultural backgrounds as well as experts and academics. We’re grateful to them for helping us understand how we can build more tools to help people find comfort in times of grief.’
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