Instagram is moving forward on memorial accounts in the wake of COVID-19 deaths

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Digital app-wrangler, Jane Manchun Wong, has found yet another upcoming feature coming to Instagram – the ability to memorialize an account after the owner has shuffled off the mortal coil. Instagram has confirmed the feature to BuzzFeed News, saying it has “been working on updates for some time,” with this particular feature “accelerated in light of COVID-19 to help support our community during a difficult time.”

Currently, the process for memorializing an account can be instigated by anyone. If it’s initiated by a family member, they can also request that the account is removed from Instagram. If that’s not requested, the word “Remembering” gets added above the username in the About Me section.

Instagram will be adding a “Remembering” banner in the future to such accounts. That will clearly show other users that the account owner has passed away and that their account has been preserved in memoriam.

Facebook was one of the first social networks to allow memorialized accounts once someone had passed on, but its early days were beset with pranksters memorializing accounts of still-living friends. Now the process requires more documentation before the Facebook page gets memorialized.

Twitter has been lagging behind. When the company announced it would start deleting inactive accounts last November, it was met with resistance as some of those inactive accounts were of deceased family members. Twitter quickly rethought the policy and promised to not go forward until it had created a tool that would let people memorialize loved ones.

What do you think? Glad to see this feature coming to Instagram? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.