This morning I turned on my computer, and the first message the screen has shown me was from Facebook. One of those birthdays reminders. One of my best friends from my time at the University would be today 57 years old. I shivered. She passed away last year after a short but hard battle against cancer. She was a journalist like me, a dedicated mother and an activist had an intense life. her death caused me a lot of sorrow. And I was just a friend. How many people close to her will receive today that same notification? How many will feel reopen their wounds? Mine was still fresh and painful. I’ve dropped a tear, I’ve said a prayer for her and then I’ve smiled. She probably is laughing seeing our puzzled eyes. Because I’m sure she is looking at us from a better place. Many memories have come to my mind this morning and they were all cheerful.
But what happened with Facebook? Maybe nobody in her family tried to cancel the account . Maybe they tried, and get discouraged because the process is so difficult it takes a research on-line to do it and find the hidden menus you need. And you can’t cancel an account immediately. You have to order the cancellation and then you have to wait 14 days. And beware checking it, because if they detect any activity in the account in this lapse of time the process can be interrupted. I have a page that I want to delete since months ago. I followed the instructions and there is no way. The page still active. Why this social networks are so possessive? Even after death?
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Thanks
It is not so astonishing. What will happen to my account one day? Who knows. It has happened to me a couple of times, although the accounts had been cancelled with time, but not all. Who will cancel my WordPress pages? Perhaps someone, perhaps no-one. A thought that has often come to my mind.
You’re right, but I never thought about that until I read my friend’s birthday remainder. Our on-line ghosts will wander the cyberspace for s while I’m afraid.