Plan Your Social Media Legacy & Afterlife Online
What happens to your social media when you're gone? Create a robust plan for Facebook, Instagram, and other accounts to manage your online presence after death.
Plan Your Social Media Legacy & Afterlife Online
December 26, 2025
On a regular Sunday afternoon, someone’s aunt—let’s call her Margaret—found herself five scrolling years deep into a relative’s dormant Facebook wall. Memories poured out, some cringeworthy, others heartbreakingly tender. It struck her: what happens to all these stories, photos, and chat threads when we’re gone? For most Australians, digital estate planning is an afterthought, wedged somewhere between ‘should update my password’ and ‘write a will’. Yet, these virtual fragments make up the fabric of our lives—and ignoring their fate leaves more than just loose ends. This blog explores why safeguarding your social-media presence is more than a techy add-on: it’s an act of care, connection, and, frankly, common sense.
Unpacking the Digital Treasure Chest: What Happens to Social Media After You’re Gone?
Scrolling through old X (Twitter) DMs, you might stumble upon a message from a friend who’s no longer here. Their words remain—untouched since their last login—a bittersweet reminder of how our digital assets outlive us. In today’s world, social-media preservation is more than nostalgia; it’s about ensuring your online legacy is managed according to your wishes.
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Why Social Media Content Forms Part of Your Estate
Photos, posts, private messages, and even your follower lists are digital assets with both emotional and, at times, financial value. Increasingly, estate lawyers recommend including these in your will, appointing a digital executor to manage your online presence. According to the FTC, your digital estate can be as significant as your physical one, especially when it comes to preserving memories and protecting privacy.
Memorialisation Settings: Platform by Platform
- Legacy Contact: Appoint someone to manage your memorialised account.
- Memorial Pages: Profile is marked as ‘Remembering’ and can be managed or deleted by the legacy contact.
- Memorialisation: Family can request memorialisation with proof.
- Verified Requests: Only certain actions allowed post-mortem; no legacy contact.
X (Twitter)
- No Standard Memorialisation: Accounts can only be deactivated by close family with documentation.
- No legacy contact or memorial page.
- Inactive Account Manager: Pre-select trusted contacts to receive data after inactivity.
- Customisable notifications and data sharing.
Legal and Practical Challenges
Unlike heirlooms in a jewellery box, digital assets are governed by each platform’s account deletion policy and local laws. In Australia, states like NSW, VIC, and QLD have varying approaches to data access after death. The ICO and NIST highlight that while some platforms allow for digital inheritance, others restrict access due to privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA.
Appointing a digital executor and specifying your wishes for each account is increasingly vital. Without clear instructions, families may face lengthy processes or lose access to treasured memories. Password managers, online memory vaults, and platforms like Evaheld Vault can help centralise your digital estate, but legal recognition of digital assets is still evolving.
‘Your digital memories deserve more than a 404 error.’ – Evaheld Vault Co-Founder
Ultimately, social-media preservation is about more than just data—it’s about stories, relationships, and the digital footprints we leave behind. As platforms and laws change, so too must our approach to digital estate planning.
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Passwords, Vaults and the Secret Sauce: Keeping Digital Assets Safe and Findable
Imagine this: a family, grieving the loss of their dad, tries to access his Instagram to preserve his photos and messages. But there’s a problem—no one knows the password. Years of memories, locked away. As Ashley Lim, Cyber-Estate Consultant, puts it:
‘A single lost password can lock away years of family history.’
This scenario is all too common, and it highlights why password management is not just about digital security—it’s the linchpin of digital inheritance.
Why Password Managers Are Mandatory for a Future-Proof Estate
Passwords are the keys to your digital kingdom. Without a secure and accessible record, your loved ones may lose access to your social media, online vaults, and digital storytelling platforms. A password manager—like Keeper or Dashlane—stores all your credentials in an encrypted vault, making them both secure and findable for those you trust. These tools are essential for cyber-estate protection and digital account management, ensuring that your online legacy isn’t lost to a forgotten login.
Online Memory Security Vaults: Evaheld Vault, Keeper, Dashlane
Modern online memory security vaults go beyond just storing passwords. Platforms like Evaheld Vault are shaping best practice by offering encrypted storage for not only logins, but also personal messages, final wishes, and digital asset inventories. Keeper and Dashlane, meanwhile, provide secure password vaults with sharing options, allowing you to designate a digital executor or heir who can access your accounts when needed. Evaheld Vault stands out for its digital legacy management features, including automated access relay—so your digital estate is handed over smoothly, without compromising security.
Integrating Vaults with Estate Planning
Integrating a digital vault into your estate plan is now considered best practice. These tools allow you to:
- Store all account credentials securely
- Record end-of-life wishes and personal messages
- Share access with your digital executor or nominated heir
- Keep an up-to-date inventory of your digital assets
For example, Facebook’s legacy contact and Google’s Inactive Account Manager both require secure access to the original account. Without the right credentials, even memorialisation settings can’t be activated.
Security Checklist for Digital Continuity
- Regularly update your credentials: Change passwords periodically and remove unused accounts.
- Enable two-factor authentication (2FA): Adds a layer of security, but remember to store backup codes and instructions in your digital legacy plan.
- Maintain a secure, up-to-date record: Use a password manager or digital vault to keep access details current and share them with your digital executor.
- Audit your digital asset list: Review what you own online and communicate updates to your executor.
Remember, password management failures are a top reason digital estates become inaccessible. Secure online media and digital estate tools like Evaheld Vault, Keeper, and Dashlane are your best allies in protecting your online legacy. For more on digital estate planning and online account policies, see resources from the EFF and ICO.
Who Gets the Keys? Appointing a Digital Executor and Setting Clear Wishes
Why Your Executor Might Not Be Techy Enough
In today’s world, your digital life is as valuable as your physical assets. From treasured family photos on Instagram to personal messages on Facebook, your social media presence forms a significant part of your estate. But here’s the catch: the traditional executor of your will may not have the digital know-how to manage your online accounts, passwords, and privacy settings. That’s why appointing a digital executor—someone tech-savvy and familiar with digital legacy management—is fast becoming best practice in Australia.
As Leah Chambers, Estate Lawyer, puts it:
‘Your final story should be yours to tell, not a puzzle for your family to solve.’
The Nuts and Bolts: Naming a Digital Executor in Australia
Australian law is catching up with the digital age. Since 2022, the NSW Law Society recommends that wills explicitly nominate a digital executor. This can be done in two ways:
- Include a clause in your traditional will that specifies your digital executor and their responsibilities.
- Use an online testament or digital estate tool—platforms like Safewill, Gathered Here, and Evaheld Vault now offer fields to list digital assets and assign a digital executor.
When naming a digital executor, make sure they’re comfortable with technology, understand online security, and can navigate platforms’ policies (such as Facebook’s Legacy Contact or Google’s Inactive Account Manager). For legal compliance, your wishes should be clear, detailed, and kept up to date with evolving laws and platform rules. [FTC Guide]
Keeping Connected: The Real Value of Digital Storytelling and Family Communication Online
In today’s digital world, the way families connect, share, and remember has changed dramatically. Digital storytelling and family communication online are now at the heart of how we preserve memories, record family stories, and ensure digital continuity across generations. The simple act of sharing a photo, a voice message, or a favourite memory online can become a powerful legacy—one that outlives us and continues to connect loved ones long after we’re gone.
Imagine a ‘Family Friday’ tradition: each week, every family member adds one cherished memory to an online family archive. Over time, this digital collection grows into a living legacy—photos, stories, voice notes, and even videos, all safely stored in a private Google Drive, Evaheld Vault, or a closed Facebook group. This isn’t just about nostalgia; it’s about building resilience and a sense of belonging, especially for younger generations who may never have met some of their relatives. In fact, an informal survey found that 72% of Australians under 40 now prefer digital memory-keeping to traditional photo albums, highlighting the shift towards online family archives and digital storytelling.
Preserving memories digitally can be as simple as organising a photo library, setting up an online family vault, or recording personal messages for future milestones. Some families even use these platforms to share end-of-life wishes, ensuring clarity and peace of mind. These digital tools—whether it’s a WhatsApp group, a shared Google Drive, or a purpose-built online memory vault—make it easy to keep everyone in the loop and maintain digital continuity. They also help avoid the common pitfall where families fall silent after a loved one’s death, often because there were no clear digital instructions or central place to share stories and memories.
Open conversations about digital inheritance are essential. When families talk about their online legacy—who should have access, what should be preserved, and how to manage digital rights—it reduces confusion, ensures wishes are met, and strengthens emotional bonds. As digital-rights experts point out, social media content forms a real part of a person’s estate (FTC, EFF). Memorialisation settings on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, or appointing a legacy contact, are practical steps that help families manage this process with dignity and security.
Online family communication isn’t just practical—it’s a gift to future generations. By normalising these conversations and celebrating ongoing digital continuity, families can ensure their stories, values, and memories are never lost. As digital storyteller Ruby Tran puts it:
‘We’re the first generation who can gift our stories, in our own words, forever. Let’s do it well.’
In the end, digital storytelling is about more than technology—it’s about connection, love, and legacy. By embracing online family archives and open communication, we can preserve memories digitally and keep our family stories alive, no matter what the future holds.
Planning your will isn’t just about assets — it’s about protecting people, values, and clarity for those you love. Alongside preparing your legal documents, explore advance care planning resources to ensure your healthcare wishes are understood, and find gentle guidance for dementia support when planning for long-term wellbeing. Reflect on what truly matters through family legacy preservation resources, and digitise your legacy with a digital legacy vault that your loved ones can trust.
When the time comes to discuss your decisions, explore nurse information and care advice, and see how advance health directive tools help formalise your choices. For those seeking remembrance, discover thoughtful online tribute options, and read about great digital family legacy tools that make it easy. Begin early, act clearly, and protect your family’s future — peace of mind starts with preparation.
Made with love by the Holistic Legacy Hub