Twitter Controversy: To Delete or Not to Delete

  • AUTHOR: fiona
  • POSTED ON: December 2, 2019

Recently, Twitter issued a statement saying that it would be deleting the accounts of those users who have been inactive for six months. The policy requires the users to log into their accounts after receiving a warning email from the platform itself. 

Source: TechCrunch 


A spokesperson of Twitter stated, “We’re working to clean up inactive accounts to present more accurate, credible information people can trust across Twitter.” 

It is not unusual for applications to carry out inactive followers’ clean-up as previously, in 2013, Yahoo users went through a similar procedure. This policy came as good news to many users as they can now hoard the usernames that would be deleted as part of the clean-up. However, the spokesperson specified that it would not happen in a single day and the activity could take “months”. Therefore, users should not expect some massive username rush on 12th December.

Source: Twitter

But it is not something to be too positive about because the inactive users would just have to log in to prove that their accounts are still in use and this might not be a big deal for many people. So we advise you not to get your hopes high.

However, on November 27th, Twitter issued a change in the policy, following the major outcry on social media. Even though some users were excited about changing their account names to something cooler, many pointed out the possibility of removing inactive accounts of dead people. 

Many users admitted that they still like to read tweets and check the previous activity of their deceased loved ones, and any possible deletion would hurt their sentiments. For many, visiting the profiles, reading their conversations and jokes, and viewing pictures are ways coping up with the loss and with the recent tweet, Twitter has retracted the process.

The team took back their statement, and they have delayed the procedure until they find a way to memorialize the accounts of dead people. 

Source: Youtube

Jason Scott, a member of Archive Team, designed a form where he took requests from people to memorialize the accounts of deceased users. He was furious at the newly-issued policy saying that Twitter has long been a platform for “records and journalism” and their team just showed that they “had no idea about it”. In a way, he is right. 

With so many websites available, Twitter has always remained the number one platform for self-expression, and before officially issuing the statements, these kinds of policies should be thoroughly reviewed. 

Scott stated that he received 1500 requests in just one night, and this shows the level of ignorance from Twitter. He emphasized that many platforms previously had done the same, but Scott and his team would continue restoring those accounts because they are aware of the importance the networking sites hold for people today.

Updated December 2, 2019
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