Nicolas Christin
My student Jenny Tang just presented our work at #chi26. We have been interested in post-mortem management of online accounts (1/5)
https://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/nicolasc/publications/Tang-CHI26.pdf
Apr 14 at 5:25pmWeb
Show threadNicolas ChristinApr 14
Grossly simplifying: key finding is that older individual don't really care about their purely digital assets (pictures, etc). They do care about digital artifacts (e.g., email, etc) that could make it harder for their heirs to manage estate transmission. (2/5)
Show threadNicolas ChristinApr 14
There is a growing need for estate planners with digital literacy. Shockingly, this is more often than not an afterthought. With GenXers/Xennials starting to get gray, there is -- in my opinion -- a real need here. (3/5)
Show threadNicolas ChristinApr 14
A lot of us have completely moved all asset management online. I haven't been to my bank since 2005. Yet, a lot of estate planning does not account for, or even reflect that new reality. (4/5)
Show threadNicolas ChristinApr 14
Anyway, I digress. Read Jenny's paper. It's illuminating. Older people are far from being digitally illiterate, and we are not serving their needs well at the moment. And we have to fix this, sooner rather than later. (5/5)
Show threadJessamynApr 14

@nc2y Oh thanks for this, just downloaded it to read. I work for the Flickr Foundation which built a funny little tool for downloading one's own Flickr archives (or one for which you have permission) along with social context (comments faves, whatever). Our researcher wrote a report on The State of Social Media Archiving Tools and... surprisingly, it's something which is hard to do.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yiQTbyhq4NZ3xR7F1m3qpX4dn82hkL5sEkhkBuW1ZlU/edit?usp=sharing

The State of Social Media Archiving Tools

The State of Social Media Archiving Tools A Report from Flickr Foundation Research Overview: This report systematically reviews social media archiving tools, focusing primarily on platform download tools. We hypothesize that most tools were designed for GDPR compliance rather than long-term pr...

Google Docs
Show threadJessamynApr 14
@nc2y Wow, yeah I also work in a library helping older adults with technology and I very much see a lot of the behavior your student describes. People who have a hard time with password managers, people who have a hard time with pen/paper password managers, people who don't totally understand how 2FA will work if they're not specifically around. These are good suggestions at the end and some of them just need to get the eye of people who can make decisions. Thanks for sharing it.
Show threadwillowbl00Apr 14
@nc2y neat! I’ve been working with Megan Yip on digitalassetshelp.com to help with the literacy parts of this. Lawyers and clients alike need to be educated.
Show threadFlickr FoundationApr 15

@nc2y That paper looks great! Echoing @jessamyn's thanks for publishing it.

Your class may also be interested in our March 2026 report on digital legacy and online platforms, where we found that Flickr members do indeed feel their Flickr accounts are very valuable; in some cases decades old!

Check out the Death Is Not an Edge Case report here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10FBMw1j3wmURVH6mTJEC6gNPI6BB6eAM8tt7q0r1cjc/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.kbm75fimonkf

Death Is Not an Edge Case: Recommendations for Proactive Legacy Management in Flickr

Death Is Not an Edge Case: Recommendations for Proactive Legacy Management in Flickr A Report from Flickr Foundation Research Published March 31st 2026 Overview: This report presents findings of a digital legacy research project conducted by the Flickr Foundation between November 2025 and Marc...

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