WEBVTT - Social Networking after Death 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:09.000 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technologies with 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:18.000 tech stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello there, everyone, 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.520 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polett, 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.520 and I'm the tech editor here at how stuff works 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:25.440 dot Com. Sitting across from me, as usual, is senior 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:30.120 writer Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, So, uh you like pumpkins? 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:35.479 I do like pumpkins, like pumpkin pie. I like pumpkin pancakes. 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:38.440 I like pumpkin cookies, like those pumpkin lattees that you 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:41.760 can get over at the Starbucks. I like pumpkin seeds 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:43.839 have been roasted for a long time. And you know 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:47.000 what I really like was that chunkin pumpkins. I was 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:49.239 gonna say, if you're gonna do that, you know, I 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:51.200 have all those things you gotta you have to bust 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:54.000 some pumpkins. Yeah, and you know what, there's no more 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:56.960 effective way than busting a pumpkin than by propelling it 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.320 several hundred feet into a field. You know, I I 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:02.560 kind of doubt that, but it's nowhere near as much 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.200 fun as doing it. It's definitely the one of the 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.160 more spectacular ways to get at pumpkin enterds. Well, if 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:10.120 you're going to do that, then you should probably tune 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.680 in on the Science Channel in November twenty six for 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.200 the Road to Punkin Chunkin and then at nine o'clock 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:20.039 Punkin Chunkin. Yes, eight and nine o'clock. Those are when 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.040 those shows come on. You get to see all how 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:27.840 all these these folks put together various pumpkin propelling devices, 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:32.319 so everything from catapults to trebuches, two cannons to there's 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.240 a centrifugal one where it has to make a full 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.880 rotation before it can release the pumpkin. Release the pumpkin. 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:43.600 I like to pretend like there's some sort of besieging 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:47.680 army that is being pelted by pumpkins. That would be fun. 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.440 I would definitely turn around and run if I I 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:53.160 saw pumpkins flying at me at high lost. Yeah, no, kitten, 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:57.480 But yeah, you guys should check that out. Yeah, let's 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:00.840 move on to our topic of discuss ship. Yes, today 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:03.200 it's a little bit more somber. Although in the past 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:05.880 we've discussed somber stuff, we've been accused of being a 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.240 little too somber. So we're gonna be goofy, what happens 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:13.960 after you die and you've got all these social networks? Um? 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.680 So yeah, No, this is actually a question that's that's 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:19.799 getting some traction. Uh, what's a good question because because 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:22.280 we didn't have to worry about this stuff until recently, right, 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:25.200 more and more of us are getting involved in having 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.680 some sort of online presence on a social network like 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.760 Facebook or Twitter, my Space or whatever, um even flicker 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:37.080 things like that. And as we do that, we have 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:40.399 to start asking ourselves some pretty tough questions like if 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:42.359 I if I were to pass away, if I were 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:44.720 to die somehow I walked out of here and got 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:48.560 hit by a bus, what happens to that information? Does 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.560 it stay there forever? Could someone else access it? Could 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:55.120 people who hated me leave really nasty messages about me 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:59.400 after I die, making my family and friends upset? Assuming 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:03.080 I have any friends. I mean, we're doing a hypothetical here, 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:05.440 right right, But I mean that that's the thing is 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.480 that in all these cases, you know, it's all sort 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:11.839 of hypothetical because it depends on who you're talking about. Yeah, so, 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:15.160 because you know, anybody and everybody is creating a social 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:18.120 networking and there there are no guidelines in the United 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.480 States at any rate to official rules suggest Yeah, there's 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.120 nothing that's there are no laws in place that species 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:29.600 specify what social networking sites can and cannot do, or 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.239 you know, any kind of rules they should follow should 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:35.720 one of the members pass away. Uh, that hasn't stopped 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:38.040 some of the sites from formulating their own policies. And 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.120 we'll get to that in a second. But a lot 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:46.240 of what happens depends upon you and your family. So 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:49.720 let's start with what you can do in order to 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:54.040 protect your your online presence, or even just as a 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:57.680 way of letting people you know online what has happened. 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.280 I mean, there there are people who have lots and 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:04.240 lots of friends who their main and sometimes only way 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:08.240 of connecting with these people is through social networks. I mean, 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:11.600 I've got a ton of friends that, UM, I don't 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.040 email them, I don't call them, but I see their 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:17.160 updates on Facebook. I might see a tweet from them 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.240 something like that. UM. So if I were to die, 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.839 how would how would how would I How would anyone 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:27.760 get the word out to them? UM? Here's some options 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.720 you can have. One, of course, is that you make 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:33.920 a record of all your user name and password information 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:39.320 and you entrust that to someone. Now you can get 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.280 because most most sites that do have policies require somebody 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:45.719 to notify them with official proof. Right. So, but let's 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.839 assume that the site you're we're talking about here doesn't 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.840 necessarily have an official policy. Now, they may handle things 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.480 on a case by case basis. But if you wanted 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:58.200 to try and just do a blanket approach so that 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.279 no matter what the site was, your family wouldn't have 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:05.440 to go through the process of contacting the site verifying 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:07.920 your death that kind of thing. Um, all they would 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:10.480 have to do is they would have the the information there. 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:11.960 They could just go ahead and log in into the 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:16.960 to your account. So you could create a record of 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:19.440 all your log in information and give it to someone, 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:22.560 or you could use a service like legacy Locker, which 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:26.200 allows you to store use your name and password information 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.640 for a fee, an annual fee or an upfront one 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:33.039 time cost. I think the one time cost is right 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:35.839 now and the year lea fee is I think is twenty, 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:42.160 so they would store the information for you. Uh. Some 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:45.479 people suggest that maybe that's not the best approach because 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:49.120 it's a weak point of attack. If a hacker were 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:52.560 to somehow access that information, they would have all of 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:55.200 your log in information for all of your sites. Uh. 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:57.919 Some people suggest that one thing you could do is 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:02.400 just give half of your inform nation to one source 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:04.520 and the other half to another. So you might give 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:08.520 your user names to one person and the passwords to 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:12.040 another and not let them know who the other one was, 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.080 like the secret formula. But then how do they know 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.520 to hook up after you've passed away and then get 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:20.800 all the information out? Or you could tell them about 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:25.640 each other. Or you could lock one set in a 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:29.960 company like Legacy Locker and that has the the uh, 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.400 the directions to release that information upon your death, and 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.440 then the person would have the first half of it 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:39.159 could put together in the access the information. It seems 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:41.159 like you could put it in a safe deposit. Poah, 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:45.000 you could do that too. The issue that has brought 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.280 up often is that most people don't even think about it, 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:51.800 and even when right, yeah, you draft a will, you 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:55.600 don't necessarily think who gets my Facebook? You know, just 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:59.680 you're you're worried about this? Yeah, yeah, they don't think 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.600 of pro troofiles like property. Yeah, I mean you're not 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:04.520 talking about it. Who takes care of your kids and 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.080 what happens to the house, and you know who's going 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.360 to get the cat right, and and it also concerns 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:14.400 other people. It's not like your profile is just your information. 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.720 So on let's let's use Facebook as an example again, 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.960 because that's that's one of the most recognizable social networking 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:22.880 sites in the United States. I would argue it's the 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:28.520 most and and they have a policy which but with Facebook, 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:32.200 you know, you've got your information that you've put into 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.679 your profile, but there's also all the information people have left, 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:39.320 like if they've flagged photos of you, if they've left 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:41.920 messages on your wall, if they've you know, if you've 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:44.760 installed applications that allow people to interact with your profile 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:48.240 in various ways. There's a lot of different information there 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:52.120 that is not technically generated by you, and so that 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:55.240 raises questions too, like who owns that information? Now, if 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:58.520 you read the terms of service, technically Facebook does, Facebook 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:01.960 owns the rights to display all that information. But um, 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:04.720 but you know, again, if you're applying this to other 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:07.040 sites across the internet, depending on the terms of service, 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.920 it's you know, it's a tricky situation. It's not necessarily 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:15.040 cut and dry. So um, but let's say that, you know, 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.960 let's say that you have not set aside all your 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:22.560 user name, password information. You haven't you have not collected 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:25.560 your log in information for someone to get hold of 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:30.720 after your death, and then well you can't do anything 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:32.760 really because you know, you're just kind of moldering in 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:36.520 the grave. You know, you're such an outlet. They're pretty 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.720 much done as far as the uh, the whole pursuing 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:41.800 the social networking thing goes. I mean, there may be 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:46.160 a death book out there, but um, I'm not privy 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:54.280 to it yet. Yeah, you know they're they're anyway. Um. Oh, 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:55.839 well that's true, but we won't. We don't need to 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.679 get into that yet. But um but yeah, so what 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:00.640 can your family and friends do? So, in the case 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:02.760 of Facebook, again using them as an example, you have 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:08.080 to contact Facebook officials and give them proof. Uh you 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:11.360 know that someone somebody you know has passed away, someone 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.960 with a Facebook profile, because they don't care if it's 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:18.360 you know, just some random person. Seriously. Okay, well I'm 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:20.199 just pointing. I'm just saying it because someone's going to 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:23.280 write in, Uh, there's an online form. Facebook has an 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:25.720 actual online form that you go in and you fill out. 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:29.160 You include the person's name and their profile information and 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.200 an obituary. You know, you have to have a link 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:34.880 to an obituary or some news article like, uh, you know, 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.719 let's say that your friend um, you know, burned up 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.800 on reentry after being shot through the air by a tribute. 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.160 I'm just saying that would have to be an awfully 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:48.240 powerful tribute to get them outside the atmosphere. I'll show 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:52.280 you my plans after the podcast, but you have to 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:54.200 you have to send them proof. Yeah, so you've sent 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.080 them the proof and then Facebook's what they what they 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.880 will do is they give you two options. The family 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.000 and choose to either close the account, which means that 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.600 Facebook will delete all that information. It will be gone. 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.480 Anyone who was friends with you will now see an 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:12.840 empty spot. There will there will there will no longer 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:16.920 be a you in that friends list. The other option 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:21.720 is to turn it into a memorial site, a memorial profile. Now, 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:25.440 memorial profiles are special in that the only people who 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:29.040 can interact with memorial profiles are pre existing friends, people 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:31.880 who were friends with with the person before they died, 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:36.560 So random people cannot suddenly befriend a dead person. And 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:40.800 leave messages on that person's memorial wall. Only the people 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.480 who are already friends can leave any sort of messages. 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.120 They can only post to the wall. Really, they cannot 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.480 UH status updates things like that, those are all deleted. 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:56.520 Personal identification information can also be deleted, things like UH addresses, 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:59.520 phone numbers, that kind of thing, So to prevent people 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:03.000 from just ending UH information or letters or whatever to 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:07.200 the family. A lot of families say that while they 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:12.240 understand the compassion that strangers may have for someone who 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:15.840 passes away, it can actually make it more difficult to 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:20.320 deal with the grieving process when people are constantly bringing 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:22.240 it up to you and you have you know, there's 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:25.120 no you have no connection to these people because they 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.679 are getting something off their chest. But you can't really 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:30.080 you know, if you don't know them, there's no way 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:32.840 to kind of reciprocate that, right, So you just get 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:35.560 more and more burdened on you while these people are 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:40.679 expressing compassion UH. And it's it's a difficult thing because 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.280 you know, as a compassionate person, of course, I would 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:47.160 feel sorry for someone who had lost a person that 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:48.679 was important to them, even if I didn't know who 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:53.120 that person was. But I don't want to add more 0:11:53.880 --> 0:12:00.080 burden to the griever then they're already experiencing. So that 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.240 information is taken away. The SaaS updates are taken away, 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.679 which is probably a good thing because you know, it 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:07.480 depends on what your last status update was. You do 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:10.720 not want your last stas update to say something like, dude, 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.120 I was so drunk last night. I don't even know 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.160 the person I woke up with. That would be an 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:21.560 awkward last word to have on your Facebook, So that 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.720 gets deleted. But friends and family can leave messages on 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:27.559 your wall, and many of them use the Facebook a 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:31.400 sort of a gathering place to grieve and to heal 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.360 and to offer support to one another and to share 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.760 memories of the person who has passed away. And uh, 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.200 and in that sense, it's a it can be a 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:42.800 very valuable asset for people who are trying to deal 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:47.320 with the loss. Um. But yeah, so those are your 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:50.800 two choices. That's that's the two basic choices. And uh, 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.720 not every site does this. Not every site has a 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:57.679 specific policy to handle this kind of situation. And like, um, 0:12:58.040 --> 0:12:59.760 my Space for a really long time, I mean that 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.160 the thing about my Space was they handled everything on 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.920 a case by case basis. Yeah, yeah, so um yeah, right, 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.640 now there's information up at the site and it says 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:12.360 that you need to provide um an obituary or a 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.360 death certificate, and they give you an email address to 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:16.400 send it to you, and you write from a personal 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:19.520 email address and explain your connection to the person who 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.800 has passed away and your request to delete the profile 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.920 entirely or to you know, remove certain parts of it. 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:29.080 It doesn't appear that there is some kind of a 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:33.080 memorial account um. Of course, in either case you have 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:36.040 to let them know because otherwise, you know, they have 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:38.280 no way of knowing. So then the account will just 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:42.920 continue indefinitely until somebody says, hey, you know this person 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:47.480 is no longer around yeah Facebook. Facebook specifically UM states 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:51.760 that they will not delete a user account UH for 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:55.400 inactivity at all. You you have to either request it 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:59.680 yourself or again if someone has way. Someone has to 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:02.240 be able to requested improved that the person has passed away, 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:06.520 so the otherwise the the account will just sit there forever. 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.040 And of course if it's not turned into a memorial account, 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:12.199 all the rules are out the window. The sas updates 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:14.600 are still gonna be there. People can leave whatever messages 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.240 they want. People. If you have not set your profile 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.760 to private, people will be able to find you in search. 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:22.400 They cannot find you in search if your account has 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:24.440 been turned to a memorial account, if they are no longer, 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.920 if they have never been your friend, they won't be 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:31.280 able to find the profile. Um so all of that 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.480 is off the table. If no one speaks up on 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.440 your behalf when you pass away, your account will just 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:41.560 sit there indefinitely until Facebook itself crumbles to the to dust. 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:47.120 But uh um, yeah, I mean that's that's something to 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:49.840 think about. Two. I mean it's weird to think about 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:51.920 this because really, to the people who have passed away, 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.680 it's not really gonna matter. You know, you, You no 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:59.200 longer need to have earthly concerns like who is leaving 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:02.400 what on your profile. It's more for the people who 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:05.240 are left behind. Which is a weird way to think 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:07.240 about it, because your profile is a very personal thing. 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:12.560 It's all about you, but all of it, Yeah, it's 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:14.880 all about It's all about the people who knew you. 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.800 So it's a weird, weird. Wait, you have to shift 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:21.840 your thinking when you get to this this kind of situation. 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:26.760 Uh So, let's uh, think about some other elements of 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:32.360 social networking passing away. UM. Facebook has a specific policy 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:40.560 in place that it will not divulge login information to anyone, right, so, uh, 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:44.440 your privacy is protected in that sense. There no one's 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:46.400 gonna be able to log into your account unless they're 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:48.640 able to guess your password or you've given your password 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:51.080 to someone. Uh. No one's gonna be able to log 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:55.000 into your account and change anything, which is good because 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:57.600 that would also be very upsetting to see someone's profile 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:03.360 change after they've passed away. Yeah, that's a very sick joke. Uh, 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.800 even if it's done with the best of intentions, I 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:10.080 would imagine that would have some pretty nasty repercussions from 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.240 friends and family who would think it would not be 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:16.280 kind of crass. So uh so Facebook does not give 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:20.440 that information out to anyone. UM. And when it converts 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:23.200 a profile into a memorial profile, there's no way to 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:25.760 log into that profile, even if you have the user 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:29.160 name and password. So if if you've given the user 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.320 name and password to someone, but they choose to convert 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.120 your profile to two memorial status, uh, no one will 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:35.840 be able to get into that and make any changes 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:39.640 from that point on. Um and again other sites, it's 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:41.400 more of a case by case basis. A lot of 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.360 them haven't really thought of it. I mean, when you're 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.080 creating a social networking site, this is the sort of 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:48.080 thing that's like furthest from your mind. You're really trying 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:51.040 to think of ways to create an environment where people 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:54.120 can connect with one another and use your application and 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:57.520 uh and and have it grow in popularity. You're not 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:02.480 necessarily thinking, oh, what do I do if someone passes away? Um. 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:05.359 Then suddenly you you get confronted with an email. You know, 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:09.520 you just completed around venture capital funding and you're thinking 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:11.360 about how cool it is that you have this new 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.359 side up, and then suddenly somebody goes, hey, you know, 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.679 I hate to buggy about this, but you know, yeah, So, 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:20.040 I mean it's a it's a difficult situation. It's not 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:23.520 and it's not something that it's fun to think about 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:28.120 by initiation imagination, but it is something that's worth thinking about. Yeah, 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:29.919 And I mean because a lot of this information, I 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:32.479 mean it sort of depends on the account, but this 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:35.080 information is out there on the server somewhere, and eventually, 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:39.679 who knows where it's gonna end up. And you know, 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:43.800 I shall also point out that we're recording this uh 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:48.119 in early November two thousand nine, late October two thou nine, 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:53.000 Facebook made this this sort of approach official. But they've 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:54.920 been the company had been doing this for a couple 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:57.160 of years. It was just it was quiet. I mean, 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:00.640 you you could contact them and you could have profiles 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:05.000 converted to memorial profiles. UH already. It's just that they 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:07.600 kind of they kind of made it an official announcement 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:12.520 in October. Part of that is probably due to Canada, 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:17.960 because there are major concerns about online privacy in Canada, 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:21.280 and a lot of companies that are springing up that 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:25.520 are all about social networking raise concerns in the Canadian 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:29.080 government's mind about not that the Canadian government has one mind, 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:32.600 but the minds of government officials in Canada that um 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:36.240 that perhaps they are not as careful about protecting privacy 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:41.400 as they should be. And when Canada started looking into 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:45.240 things like that specifically at Facebook, one of the elements 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.800 in there was, you know, I have a have a 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:50.600 well defined policy of what happens if someone were to 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:53.680 pass away and what would be done with that person's information. 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:56.439 So that probably has something to do with it. And 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:58.720 I suppose that probably also means that there are other 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:01.679 sites that are working on developing policies that can be 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:05.080 clearly outlined. And I would imagine so, and you know, 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:07.440 you think about it, there's so many sites out there. 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.280 I just think of all the different sites that this 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:12.840 applies to. And it's not just the things like Facebook 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.119 and my Space. It's yeah, I mean I checked on 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:19.439 Twitter and didn't see a thing, you know, photo photo 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:24.920 sharing sites, YouTube, YouTube videos. Um, I mean, goodness knows 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.560 that YouTube is already one of those places where I 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:31.720 think the nastiest comments on the Internet kind of pop 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:34.680 up on YouTube. Stuff on there. It's YouTube and four chan. 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.640 That's what the two places where you're gonna see the 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:43.359 the the most tool curling, frightening stuff. Ever, that's not 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.040 a knock against four Chan. I'm just saying, you go 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:48.720 into that random channel, you are you are taking your 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:53.000 Internet in your own hands. My friends, Um, those guys 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.000 they play off and now, I mean, you know they 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:58.639 find it fun, so more power to them. They're mostly 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:02.600 doing it to each other. So uh but the yeah, YouTube, 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:04.760 same sort of thing, not same sort of thing, but YouTube. 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:07.200 You see like these comments that can be really really critical. 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:09.560 You don't want to see that popping up after someone 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.600 passes away. What what if they're keeping a video journal 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:15.680 and people are leaving nasty comments on that last video 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:18.320 journal entry. That's something that the family and friends are 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:21.960 are possibly going to want to to revisit, as you know, 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:24.040 this is a memory of someone they knew and it's 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:28.439 the most recent version of whatever. And yeah, so there 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:30.280 are a lot of things to think about, and we 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:32.600 don't have answers for all of this because once again, 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:37.120 technology is moving faster than culture is. And uh, I'm 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:40.440 sure that we're going to see a lot more movement 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:42.480 on this in various ways. We're probably gonna see a 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:44.479 lot of missteps where people are going to do what 0:20:44.560 --> 0:20:46.840 they think is the right thing. It's gonna come back 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:49.399 and blow up in their face. It's just bound to 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:52.879 happen because we're human beings. We make mistakes. Um. The 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:55.560 thing important thing to remember is that I think everyone 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:59.240 has the the same goal in mind, which is to 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:04.360 respect the members who joined the community. Um. It may 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:06.560 be that they take the wrong path, but I think 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:10.760 as long as everyone keeps that understanding, uh, we will 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:13.840 eventually get to the right solution. I think Facebook is 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:17.120 definitely on the right track. I can't really find any 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:20.880 fault in in their process. No, and it's uh, it's 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:25.159 pretty well thought out, you know, with different different contingencies. 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:28.320 And you know the fact that there is a memorial 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:33.040 account is pretty nice. Ye. Yeah, I would like to 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:35.600 say right now, I hope I don't see one for 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:40.879 a really long time. So so to all my Facebook friends, 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:49.280 eat your venis. Unless you're allergic, then don't. Okay, got 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:52.720 anything else, Okay, let's let's move on to a little 0:21:53.800 --> 0:22:02.199 listener mail. This listener mail comes from ROSEMARYE. And Rosemary says, Hi, guys, 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:04.760 I really like playing the old games on the original 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:07.760 versions of Nintendo and have been rather confused by how 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:11.680 duck Hunt and similar arcade games work. The gun console 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:13.960 has kind of left me bewildered, and I would like 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:15.600 to learn about it. I don't know if you have 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:17.640 covered this in a podcast or not, but I'm really 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:22.880 curious in knowing how it works. Thanks much, Rosemary. Well, Rosemary, Uh, 0:22:22.920 --> 0:22:24.879 we have an article about this. It's actually a very 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:26.520