Facebook is launching a range of features to prevent itself from upsetting users by encouraging them to invite dead friends to parties, or wish them happy birthday.

When Facebook users die, their accounts can become memorialised, allowing friends and family to share memories recorded by the user after their death.

But, other than the word "Remembering" appearing next to the user's name, Facebook hadn't previously treated these accounts any different.

This often caused a lot of pain for loved ones, who were reminded of the deceased's birthday and often encouraged to invite them to events.

According to the social media giant, this is now set to change for the 30 million people who view memorialised pages each month to remember those who have passed away.


A new tributes section will allow people to remember their loved ones, and an improved AI system will prevent the profiles of the dead from "appearing in painful ways".

"The new tributes section expands on this, creating a separate tab on memorialised profiles where friends and family can share posts - all while preserving the original timeline of their loved one," said the company's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.

"This lets people see the types of posts that are most helpful to them as they grieve and remember their loved ones."