Father’s Plea To Facebook Founder Heard

In a most heart-wrenching and touching video posted on YouTube, John Berlin, of Saint Louis, Missouri, appealed to Mark Zuckerberg to please create and release his son’s Look Back film that Facebook was creating for its posters yesterday. As a way to celebrate its 10th Anniversary, Facebook offered its posters the opportunity to turn static photographs from their timeline into a 62-second movie.

When Mr. Berlin saw some of the emotionally powerful vignettes posted on Facebook yesterday, he knew he wanted one as a memento of his son’s short life.

Mr. Berlin’s son, Jesse, died in January of 2012 when he was only 21 years old. Facebook, as is their policy, closed out Jesse’s account when they learned of his death, locking out access to everyone. Jesse’s father, in his moving appeal to Mr. Zuckerberg, asked only for the movie. He said he wasn’t even trying to gain access to Jesse’s account.

Facebook heard of the appeal, which went viral (as of this writing there have been well over two million views), and reached out to the distraught father.

Facebook agreed not only to release the film but also, after discussion with Mr. Berlin, to look into how they handle account closures of deceased family members. Mr. Berlin’s appeal may lead to long-lasting changes.

On The Web:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/06/tech/social-media/facebook-dad-video-appeal/)