Are You Prepared For Social Media Death

by Anita Mae Draper

Are you prepared for your social media death? People don't like to talk about death of any kind, but in this case we are talking about the real death of a human being and the virtual life they leave behind.

This hit hard recently when we visited my husband's cousin on the day after her 76th birthday. She was in a nursing home due to health issues and I mentioned that I'd left a birthday greeting on her Facebook page the day before but wasn't sure if it was the right one since she had 2 profile pages. (Her son made the first one, and she'd made the 2nd when she couldn't find the first one.)

She responded that she hadn't looked at her Facebook page in quite a while, so I used my cell phone to show her the greetings from both pages. Her smile was heartwarming as she dwelled on each name.

As I put my phone away, however, she mentioned that it bothered her to see people posting annual greetings to her deceased sister's Facebook page and how she wouldn't like her own page(s) to remain up in the event of her own death.

I explained that the easiest solution was to give her husband or son the passwords to her social media accounts.

Two weeks later her husband phoned with the heart-wrenching news that she had passed away peacefully in her sleep. I was too distraught to ask whether she gave him the passwords. When I last checked, 2 weeks after she'd passed, both pages were still up although her son was using the one he'd set up for her to post information and thank people for their thoughtfulness.

My research led me to put the word, death, in the HELP search box on my Facebook profile page, which is shown by the question mark in a circle at the top of the page. The answer is that Facebook does allow for this situation. Here's the gist of it:

It goes into detail about the types of documentation required. Personally, I believe it's an act of love to simply hand over your passwords to a loved one, or at least leave them in an accessible location, and save them from additional grief.

Some reasons for not sharing your passwords with a loved one are you:

• change your passwords often
• don't like writing them down
• worry about their security

These are all valid reasons and shouldn't be taken lightly, however, the question should not be whether you should share them with someone you trust, but rather whether you want your virtual life to carry on after your physical body shuts down.

What are your thoughts on this matter? And please, for your own security, don't say anything about your passwords, their location, or who knows them.

*Update - Comments contain excellent information on choices.

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Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are woven under the western skies of the Saskatchewan prairie where her love of research and genealogy yields fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details.  Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her novellas are included in Austen in Austin Volume 1, The American Heiress Brides Collection, and The Secret Admirer Romance Collection. Readers can check out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories to enrich their reading experience.  Discover more at:

Website - www.anitamaedraper.com

Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper/

Man Plans, God Laughs

Just a few minutes ago, I turned in the first draft of a book I had written. It was number seventeen for me. Seventeen. It made me wonder how all this had happened.

When I was growing up, I thought I was going to be a teacher. When I was in high school, I realized that wasn’t for me, and I thought I would probably end up with some kind of office job. Practical. Respectable. Unremarkable.

But about that same time I also started writing. Nothing big. Certainly nothing memorable or worthy to be offered to the public. If I remember right, it was mostly “episodes” of TV shows I liked. Early fan fiction, I suppose.

I went on to get my degree in business and immediately found a job as an accountant. But still I wrote. I began writing on my lunch hour and at night and on the weekends. I didn’t plan to publish, I was just amusing myself, writing the book I wanted to read. Not books. Book. It took me eleven-and-a-half years and a lot of urging from the only friend I showed my story to, but I finally got it published. I thought that would be the only one. Forever and ever, amen.

Fast forward to a few minutes ago. I put the “The End” on Book Seventeen. How did this happen?

I’m so glad that, even when I don’t have a clue, God sees me and knows what He made me for and guides me the way He wants me to go.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

What have you looked back on, not seeing until then what God has done for you?

 

CHOSEN

    Recently, I was offered a contract to write for a company I haven’t worked for before. I had been waiting to hear from them for a little while, was thrilled to know they wanted me, and immediately and happily accepted. After that, I was petrified.
    What had I just agreed to do?
    What if I couldn’t do it?
    What if they didn’t like me???
    Never mind that I have fourteen traditionally published books and three more coming out this year. Never mind that I’ve been writing professionally for more than twenty years. Never mind that this is something I very much want to do.
    Never mind.
    Never mind.
    Never mind.
    All I could hear was that accusing little voice in my ear telling me that I’m a fraud, and this time, this time, mind you, they were all going to realize it.
    By the time I went to bed that night, I had absolutely no joy in this wished-for news.
    How am I going to do this?
    What if something happens?
    Why would they want me?
    Before I went to sleep, I did my scheduled Bible reading. It’s something I do every night, and what I read was something I was quite familiar with, something I had read many, many times before:

Exodus 31:1-6

Then the Lord said to Moses,“See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you:

    When I read it this time, the words fairly shouted at me. God had chosen these men and fitted them to do what He had given them to do. God had chosen me and fitted me to do what He has given me to do.
    He, the Lord of Glory, the Immortal, Invisible God, the Alpha and Omega, had made me a writer, had called me to learn my craft and given me the ability to do what He made me for. No, what I do isn’t as grand and glorious as preparing His house of worship, but I wasn’t called to that. I wasn’t called to pastor a mega-church or have multi-million-selling gospel albums. I was called to do the work He sets before me to the best of my ability and in a way that brings Him glory.
    Just as we all are.
    I think my very favorite Bible verse in times like this is Isaiah 41:13: For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear. I will help you.”
    I went to sleep that night with a smile on my face, knowing He’s got this. And whatever you are called to do for Him, He’s got that, too.


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