Today Facebook announced a new initiative that many in the industry have been long awaiting: Instant Articles.

What Are They?

Instant Articles are a new way for Facebook users (just those with iPhones for now) to access media content directly within Facebook's app, without having to wait for a news site (e.g. The New York Times) to load. That means you can now read that article much faster, view beautiful content reactive to the way you move your phone, watch videos that play automatically, load interactive maps, and more.

What Does It Mean?

For publishers this is a little scary, but maybe a little exciting as well. Facebook has assured them they'll still be able to recoup ad revenue, and it will offer analytics, but it seems almost inevitable that Facebook will highlight those content producers that hop on it's Instant Articles bandwagon. That means those publishing outlets who don't get on board could show up less and less in user's newsfeeds, with Facebook's algorithm potentially putting preference on these Instant Articles.

Why Does It Matter?

Well, essentially this is part of Facebook's plan to conquer the world. And own your soul. They're doing everything they can to keep you in-app, and this initiative just takes that one step further. Whether or not other publishing companies jump on board remains to be seen, but for now, Facebook's evil plan seems to be working.

On Facebook that is. You didn't really think I was going to tackle that subject right now did you? Let's face it, no one knows. What we do know however, is that there are millions of social media accounts poised to be abandoned forever once we all kick that eventual bucket.

But now Facebook has announced a new policy that allows users to choose a "legacy contact" to manage your account in the event of your death. This is a tool that many users who have experienced the untimely death of a loved one have been asking for for years. You can now provide the option for that contact to manage your page, letting you live on with posts, photos and more, or to shut it down permanently if desired.

So how do you do it? It's easy, and it provides a good reminder for you to go take a look at your Facebook setting, which I recommend you do often, as changes happen frequently.

Simply go to Settings, then click Security from the left hand menu. After that, you'll see an option to choose your Legacy Contact at the bottom of the page. You can choose to let that person know you've chosen them as a legacy contact, or notify them later.

No one like to admit their impending mortality, but life will go on without you, even on social media. Best get that house in order now!