Last year one of my connections through social media passed away. Their family has left their presence online as a memorial to them.

One of the things I noted recently though was the fact that that there was a reminder about their birthday coming up in Facebook.

Facebook recently released “suggestions for helping friends,” in the right-hand corner of your home page, which Facebook comments is a feature that aims to get you to assist your friends that don’t appear to be actively using the site and “reconnect” you with old contacts.

Mashable comments that Facebook does have a way to memorialise your loved ones should they pass away:

“We understand how difficult it can be for people to be reminded of those who are no longer with them, which is why it’s important when someone passes away that their friends or family contact Facebook to request that a profile be memorialized … By memorializing the account of someone who has passed away, people will no longer see that person appear in their Suggestions.

When an account is memorialized, we also set privacy so that only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in search. We try to protect the deceased’s privacy by removing sensitive information such as contact information and status updates. Memorializing an account also prevents anyone from logging into it in the future, while still enabling friends and family to leave posts on the profile Wall in remembrance.”

 I hope you won't need to use this facility, but should you need to memorialise someones account, you can find the link on Facebook to do so here.