Why Your Social Media Profile Might Outlive You | Gina Cui, Ph.D.

By 2037, Meta will have more accounts belonging to dead people than living ones. No one has a plan for what happens next. In this episode, Professor Gina Cui, Ph.D., marketing professor at Coastal Carolina University, joins host Niki Weiss to break down the consumer behavior research behind digital immortality, Meta's patent to keep deceased users posting, and why the average adult has over 300 digital accounts with no plan for any of them. CHAPTERS 0:00 Meta Has a Patent to Keep Dead People Posting 1:57 How consumer behavior research led to studying digital immortality 4:27 Why society is obsessed with death in entertainment but avoids it in planning 7:03 Story.File, the South Korean documentary, and archival versus generative AI 10:05 Meta's patent to keep deceased users active on social media 13:20 By 2037 there will be more dead accounts on Meta than living ones 15:42 The average adult has over 300 digital accounts: what that means when you die 18:11 Digital consent and the case for a digital legacy advance directive 21:08 How marketing could normalize death planning the way it normalized insurance 23:34 What universities are doing to build AI literacy in students 27:03 The internal versus external continuity bond in grief and AI 31:06 The question of who owns your data after death: Meta says Meta 33:43 Professor Cui's takeaways and where to find her WHAT YOU WILL LEARN - What archival digital immortality and generative digital immortality mean, and why the distinction matters for your estate plan - What Meta's patent actually does and why a platform where dead accounts outnumber living ones by 2037 is not a hypothetical - Why your terms and conditions take legal priority over your will if you have not explicitly addressed your digital accounts in your estate plan - What a digital legacy advance directive is and why Niki recommends it as a standard document alongside power of attorney - What grief bots are, what early research says about their effect on grieving, and the psychological risk of a subscription model that makes people feel like they are killing someone again when they cancel Start your plan and take the free assessment: https://finalplaybook.com/main-page LISTEN TO THE PODCAST Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/death-and-dying-in-the-digital-age/id1775499012 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2MQkOgvyPQnLEz1fO9BHkY Subscribe: @DigitalLegacyPodcast FOLLOW US Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/endevo.digitallegacy TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@endevo_digitallegacy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endevo_digitallegacy/ Download the My Final Playbook app: Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=endevo.life.finalplaybook Apple App Store: [link coming soon] #deathandyinginthedigitalage #ENDevo #digitallegacy #digitallegacypodcast #myfinalplaybook Disclaimer: The Death and Dying in the Digital Age channel is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical, legal, or financial advice. Views expressed by the host and guests are their own. Always consult qualified professionals before making decisions. The channel is not responsible for actions taken based on its content. Re-uploads or ANY use of our content is prohibited.