As discussed in the previous section, the study conducted by University of Oxford is predicting the dead could outnumber the living on Facebook by as early as 2070. As you can imagine, not all social media companies have a solid protocol for handling accounts of the deceased. As the internet continues to take over our lives, many big social media companies have started to create policies related to the death of the account owner.
Accounts typically remain dormant until deleted due to inactivity or transferred to family or friends. Family or friends managing your accounts after death can be difficult because they may not know all the accounts you own, they may not have your login information, and they may have to reach out to the social media company to request an account transfer. Laws for passing on digital assets to family and friends is still a work in progress. As we continue to develop new technologies and live such a significant portion of our lives online, complications with inheritance of digital legacies will continue to arise. Our society is starting to recognize the importance of digital legacies and their need to be protected as assets of an individual.