Activities with Instagram when their account owner dies

What happens when the owner of a profile on a social network dies? This question we have asked ourselves a lot has also been asked by the social platforms themselves, some of them being the ones that have added concrete measures for these cases.

In this post, we will focus on Instagram to explain what can be done with an account of this social network when its owner has passed away.

Several studies have already analyzed how in social networks the number of deceased users will increase in a few decades. One of them is that carried out by the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), which recalls that on Facebook, deceased users can overtake the living in 50 years.

Although the average age of Instagram users is younger than on Facebook, this issue directly affects them as well.

After knowing what happens on Facebook when an account owner dies, let's see how to handle this situation with an Instagram profile.

When the owner of an Instagram account dies, there may be different cases

How to delete the Instagram account of a deceased person

When the owner of an Instagram account dies, it may be that his relatives want to suppress his presence on the social network.

To do this, they need to ask Instagram to delete their loved one's account. Only direct family members of the user can do it, as Instagram explains.

This management requires the provision of certain documents by family members so that the company verifies that the account holder is really deceased and that those requesting elimination are direct relatives.

After filling the request to remove a deceased person from Instagram, the documents to be sent are as follows:

• The birth certificate of the deceased.
• The death certificate of the deceased.
• Proof, in accordance with local law, that you are the legal representative of the deceased or his heir.

After receiving the form and documents, Instagram will analyze the request to verify that the applicant is a direct relative.

Once he has confirmed that the request complies with the rules, he will proceed to the deletion of the Instagram account of the deceased.

How to commemorate the Instagram account of a deceased person

Another option offered by Instagram is to turn the account into a memorial profile for honor the deceased.

If the family requests it, the contents of the account remain intact, but the label "In memory of" is added above their name.

This metric was added in mid-2020 by Instagram to remember someone's life after death, such as actress Naya Rivera, whose account became commemorative after his death.

These accounts have a few key features:

• No one, not even family members, can connect to a memorial account.
• The word "In memory of" will appear at next to the person's name on their profile.
• Posts the user has shared (photos and videos included) will remain on Instagram and the audience they were shared with will be able to see them. No one will be able to make changes posts or account information.
• Memorial accounts do not appear in some places on Instagram, such as the Explore section.

parallel to the request to create a memorial account, Instagram requires that the parent or friend of the deceased attach an obituary or notice in the newspaper to confirm that the profile owner is deceased.

Another option: keep the Instagram account intact

Another alternative when the owner of an Instagram account dies is that his profile remains intact, without deleting it or that it become commemorative.

If relatives do not take any action regarding the account, the users with whom the deceased shared their posts can continue to access the content.

Another different case is that of celebrities like Kobe Bryant, whose Instagram account is always updated by his relatives.

As we have seen in this article, platforms such as Instagram or Facebook already have certain procedures for accounts whose owners have died.

It should be something common in the future in other social networks such as Twitter, which should make it easier for relatives of the deceased to delete the account or convert it into a memorial account to celebrate the life of the person.