When I Pass Away Will My Social Media Presence Be Here to Stay?

Social media is still in its infancy. Facebook became available to everyone 13 and older on September 26, 2006. Twitter was launched for public use on July 15, 2006. LinkedIn was launched on May 5, 2003. But as the years pass, we will all eventually be faced with the question of what to do with our social media presence after our time is up.

Final Farewell and Facebook

Do you want to stay on Facebook after you die? No? Well, perhaps the easiest solution is to give someone you trust your login information and have them permanently delete your account when you die. This can be done by clicking the account menu at the top of your Facebook page, pick Account Settings, click Security in the left-hand column, then click "Deactivate your account." Or perhaps more officially, make this request in your will.

The current Security Settings screen in Facebook as of December 2013

If you haven't planned for your afterlife Facebook page, your immediate family members or executor can still submit a special request to remove your account. Facebook will require a death certificate or other proof to do so.

Or you can also simply do nothing and continue having your presence be shown in Facebook. A good friend of mine passed in 2013 and his page is still up and running. In fact, many of his friends posted happy birthday messages on his page later in the year.

Lastly, your family, friends, even co-workers may make a Memorialization Request by submitting the deceased's email address and proof of death. The requestor reports the information under penalty of perjury. Facebook will not provide login information for the deceased's account.

When an account is memorialized, Facebook keeps the account information static. Friends can still post to the deceased's page (subject to the account's privacy settings). When a Facebook Timeline is memorialized, it does not show up in others' pages as a friend suggestion and birthday reminders do not appear for the account.

Facebook indicates that a new Timeline may not be created to memorialize a deceased person, though others can create a Page or a Group for that purpose.

Six Feet Under Instagram

Instagram is owned by Facebook and thus their policies regarding deceased users is similar. You can request that a deceased Instagrammer’s account be memorialized if they passed away. But if you are an immediate family member of the person, you can request that the account be removed. Instagram will require proof of death for the former, such as a link to an obituary or news article. You’ll need additional information such as a birth/death certificate to remove the account. Click here for info.

Terminal in Twitter

Twitter is a bit different than Facebook in that if you are inactive (i.e. no logins or Tweets) for 6 months, they may permanently remove your account due to prolonged inactivity. That pretty much will take care of your Twitter account.

That said, or Tweeted, as the case may be, a family member or executor of your estate may also request that your Twitter account be terminated. This is done by contacting Twitter. You may be asked to provide the deceased's user name, death certificate, the requestor's driver's license or other Government-issued ID and a signed statement.

And of course you could share, before your final breath, your login information with someone you trust, who in turn can go to your Settings/Account, then scroll to the bottom of the screen where it says "Deactivate my account" and be done with it.

LinkedIn Through the Out Door

Someone I'm connected with in LinkedIn passed away several years ago. I still see her profile in there, which to me is a bit depressing and sad. Recently LinkedIn reminded me of her "work anniversary" even. Unlike Twitter, LinkedIn does not remove an account with prolonged inactivity. And unlike Facebook, LinkedIn does not have a "memorialize" feature where you can post comments to the deceased's page.

What LinkedIn does have is a feature for members to complete a form to report a colleague, classmate, or loved one who has passed away so they can close that person's account and remove their profile. So unlike Facebook and Twitter, non-family members can make a request to remove your profile in LinkedIn. I completed the form for the acquaintance who passed away, including a link to an online obituary. Six hours later, I received an email from LinkedIn indicating their account has been removed.

If you're reading this article, I'll assume you are still alive. Thus, you might as well check out the CVG Twitter page at twitter.com/ConejoJoe and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ConejoValleyGuide.

Why Posting Your Birthday on Facebook is Not Such a Good Idea

You have 250 Facebook friends ranging from close family members, childhood playmates, high school classmates, frat house buddies, workplace acquaintances and other random people. Some you know well, others not so much. 

Never before have birthdays been so exciting. In your Facebook notifications settings, you can be prompted as to your friends' birthdays automatically. Or if you click your Friends section and click Birthdays, you can see "Friends with Upcoming Birthdays."  It's fun to see 97 people write "Happy Birthday!" on your wall on your birthday!

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But think about it. Do you really want your birth date, a key component of your personal information that can be used for identity theft, openly displayed on your Facebook page?

At lunch today, a friend told me that someone was able to find out his political party, but he didn't know how that happened.

In many counties, voter records are maintained online. Ventura County in fact makes it really easy to find out if you are a registered voter, when you registered and your political affiliation. All they ask for is your first and last name and your birth date. The Voter Eligibility Search is at recorder.countyofventura.org/elections/voter-lookups/am-i-a-registered-voter/#VoterEligibilitySearch.

This friend just so happens to show his birthday on his personal Facebook page. Just month and day, no year. While I didn't know what year he was born in, it took me only two guesses to log in to his voting record. This would not have been so easy had it not been for his posting his birth date to Facebook.

So unless you are interested in making it that much easier to have your identity stolen or personal information discovered, it's probably not a good idea to post your birthday to Facebook. Your real friends will remember your birthday. They either have it memorized or written down somewhere. Or maybe you can give them a hint.

There's a way to restrict access to your birthday on your Facebook page by going to "Contact and Basic Info" => "Basic Information" and clicking the lock icon next to your birthday. You can select Public, Friends, "Only Me" or Custom. "Only Me" is my option of choice. But of course my birthday comes and goes and I don't receive the Facebook-prompted birthday wishes that my friends receive.

Finding one's voter registration status in Los Angeles County at www.lavote.net/vrstatus requires slightly more work than in Ventura County. You need Last Name, Birthdate, House Number and Zip Code. 

More information about how to recover from identity theft

How to place a credit a "security freeze" on your credit file

Bacon, Avocado and Grilled Onions Top List of Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Followers' Favorite Hamburger Toppings

The burger from Bandits' Grill and Bar Thousand Oaks that inspired the drawing.

Yes, this is breaking news. Very important stuff. To celebrate reaching 12,000 followers on the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Page, we teamed up with Bandits' Grill and Bar Thousand Oaks for a gift card drawing. To enter the six-hour drawing, we asked folks to name a favorite burger topping.

The drawing ended at 11PM and as always, when CVG Facebook followers are offered the chance to win free food, they do not hesitate to participate.

After selecting the winner, I decided to tabulate the responses to see if there was a clear-cut favorite topping.  It was not particularly surprising that bacon received 19% of total votes, making it the #1 choice.

But avocado gave bacon a clear run for its money, with 16% of the vote. As I was tabulating, midway through the count I thought avocado was actually going to pull out an upset win. But in the end, "bad fat" prevailed over "good fat," though not by much!

In a tie for third place were grilled onions and cheese, with 12% of the vote each. Rounding out the next four spots were blue cheese (this one surprised me a bit), mushrooms, onion strings/rings and BBQ sauce. Pickles, jalapenos, fresh tomato were noted several times.

Speaking of burgers and restaurants, visit THIS LINK for a rundown on local area eateries that are newly opened or soon to be opening.

Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Followers Dish Out Their Favorite Pizza Toppings

Brick oven pizza from Barone's Pizzeria in Westlake Village

In a 2014 report, "Consumption of Pizza - What We Eat in America," the USDA highlighted the fact that 13% of the U.S. population aged 2 and older consumed pizza on any given day. And over 1 in 4 males ages 6 to 19 partake in a slice or two, or three, in a given day. According to PMQ Pizza Magazine, pizza restaurant sales in the U.S. for the 12 months ended September 30, 2015 were $38.5 billion. That's over $120 in pizza per capita.

So in a recent CVG Facebook Page drawing, locals were asked to comment on their favorite pizza toppings. Here's how the toppings stacked up in order of popularity based on over 150 responses:

• Pepperoni - with 18% of the total vote, pepperoni was the clear winner
• Sausage - however, sausage gave pepperoni a run for its money, with 14% of the vote
• Mushrooms - while I'm not opposed to mushrooms on my pizza, I still don't quite get why they are so popular, as indicated with their 3rd place showing at 12%
• Pineapple - at 8% of votes cast, this sweet, tangy fruit on pizza placed 4th, perhaps driven by the combination of pineapple and ham, Canadian bacon, etc.
• Olives, bacon - olives are also technically a fruit and tied for 5th place on this list with the combo of bacon/Canadian bacon, each garnering 5% of the vote
• Jalapenos, artichokes and "cheese only" tied at 4% of the vote

Honorable mentions go to green pepper, chicken, onions and garlic. Mentioned just once or twice were arugula, tomato, prosciutto, ricotta, steak, basil, meatballs, shrimp, spinach and eggplant.

Hungry now? So am I! Here's a compilation of local area newly opened and soon to be opened eateries of all types in and around Ventura County.

Facebook Rolls Out New Gift Giving Service On Your Friends' Timelines Today

Facebook rolled out a new feature today that just kind of started appearing on friends' Facebook Walls today. This feature I believe is called "Facebook Gifts" and you pretty much can't help but notice it. Simply go to a friend's wall and you'll see where you can post a message, a photo, or now, wallah, now give them a gift!

So from there all you do is click the "Gift" icon to see what type of choices you have to give. You'll find everything from $5 Starbucks gift cards to flowers, candy, beef jerky, Star Wars USB storage devices, cupcakes, to, well, you name it! They have "recommended gifts" to help you out.

You choose a gift and the next screen gives you additional information about the selection.

The following screen allows you to select a card to accompany the gift. Choose the occasion (birthday, anniversary, etc.).

Then customize the card. In the next screen you decide whether to post the gift on your friend's Timeline or not. After your friend "opens" the wrapped gift on their timeline (or otherwise), they will be asked to provide shipping information (when applicable) and you will be asked to pay. Kind of interesting actually that you don't pay until they actually "open" the present on their Wall.

Here's a preview of how it looks on their wall (recipient's name removed to protect the innocent from false expectation of receiving a gift from a cheapskate like me).

This is actually pretty clever. What better venue to provide a quick and easy way of giving a gift to a friend than in Facebook! I believe this is Facebook's first mainstream foray into the eCommerce world. Given how ubiqutious Facebook birthday messages are, this could really become huge!

This rollout applies so far only to individuals in Facebook and not to Facebook Pages, such as the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Page at facebook.com/ConejoValleyGuide (hint, hint, follow us there for fun daily tidbits). However, feel free to friend me at facebook.com/ConejoJoe if you happen to be in the mood to test this new Facebook Gifts service (hint, hint, again).