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So what happens to your Facebook account when you die? What about your Twitter, gmail, eBay?

We’re taking a look at perspectives from CNN, Facebook, the New York Times and CBS.

One common way people pay their respects to lost friends is through social media sites like Facebook. 

CBS News9 in Oklahoma City reports how friends and family of Julia Gilbert turned to Facebook when Gilbert was involved in a fatal car accident earlier this month.

“This site has been transformed now into a massive tribute, a lot of folks posting up messages and condolences. Let me share with you this message from Julia’s friend who created the site, ‘All of the posts are greatly appreciated. I encourage you all to keep it up as her family and friends still need support through their loss.’”

Facebook came under fire when their new “Suggestions” feature was suggesting contact with dead people. According to the company’s blog, Facebook’s new memorial feature creates a safe online presence for the deceased.

“When someone leaves us, they don't leave our memories or our social network. To reflect that reality, we created the idea of ‘memorialized’ profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who've passed.”

However, some people find the idea of an online memorial too impersonal. After the death of a friend, Adam Cohen of The New York Times describes how the Facebook memorial site left out a piece of the grieving process.

“There is something not entirely satisfying about an online memorial. Those of us who visit Luke’s page are not physically coming together to remember him — and we are not making the effort and expending the time that it takes to gather in person.”

So what about other digital assets? How can you ensure that they are maintained when you’re gone? CNN shows how using programs like Legacy Locker can make it easy.

“You set up your account and you say, ‘These are the assets I have that are important.’ In my case, my gmail account, my twitter page, my GoDaddy account, eBay. And so what you do is you go on, you put in your passwords and you select a beneficiary, just like you would in a regular will. And you could say, ‘I want my husband to have access to these accounts after I die.”

So do you want your digital side to live beyond your physical side? Will you take steps to ensure your friends and family can access your digital assets after you’re gone?

Writer: Ann Langworthy

Producer: Ann Langworthy