Twitter to delete inactive accounts on December 11 to free up usernames (Update: Deffered)

[zanderthunder]

 

Twitter is warning users to log in to their account by December 11 or lose access to their usernames permanently due to prolonged inactivity. The warning is being issued to users via an email alert.

 

BBC's Dave Lee reported in a Twitter post that this action is meant to take back accounts that have been inactive for more than six months (via TechCrunch).

 

Quote

More on Twitter's action on inactive accounts: The company is clawing back accounts that have been inactive for more than *six months*, which is likely a very large number. Inactive = user hasn't *logged in*. Seeking clarification on what happens to useful/fun bot accounts.

— Dave Lee (@DaveLeeBBC) November 26, 2019

 

In a statement, the micro-blogging service says:

 

Spoiler

"As part of our commitment to serve the public conversation, we’re working to clean up inactive accounts to present more accurate, credible information people can trust across Twitter. Part of this effort is encouraging people to actively log-in and use Twitter when they register an account, as stated in our Inactive Accounts Policy. We have begun proactive outreach to many accounts who have not logged into Twitter in over six months to inform them that their accounts may be permanently removed due to prolonged inactivity."

 

That means Twitter handles that will be removed as part of this policy will be up for grabs again, though there's no exact date for that officially. However, Lee says these usernames could be available for acquisition on December 11.

 

The service's existing inactive account policy states that users are required to log in and Tweet at least every six months in order to keep their account active. Twitter may permanently remove an account that has been inactive beyond that period.

 

Source: Twitter to delete inactive accounts on December 11 to free up usernames (via Neowin)

 

Update: Plan to remove inactive accounts was deferred, according to the news posted by @Karlston. Therefore, title was updated to reflect the new information.

[Karlston]

Twitter Rollbacks on Plan to Remove Inactive Accounts Amid User Concerns

The big news on Twitter this week was the announcement that the social network will be getting rid of inactive users. That meant you’d finally be able to get that username you have long been wanting.

 

Shortly after the announcement, though, there were a lot of concerns and questions about the process. The concern was mainly caused due to the vagueness of Twitter’s announcement, and the lack of clarity on how the entire process would actually work.

 

Today, the company clarified somethings — but more importantly, announced that it will not be removing inactive accounts until some major concerns are addressed. And that is, of course, dealing with the accounts of the deceased.

 

Twitter wants to give users the ability to “memorialize” accounts of the deceased, instead of simply removing them for being “inactive”. The issue is quite tricky here, and it’s not exactly clear how Twitter plans to tackle it.

 

 

The company apologized for the confusion caused, too.

 

Twitter also clarified that the company originally planned to remove inactive accounts in the EU only. Due to local privacy regulations such as GDPR, the company said it would actually start enforcing its inactive account policy more consistently — but starting only with users in the EU. As for everyone else, the company says it will look into expanding the consistent enforcement of the inactive account policy throughout the world and communicate the changes to users, when and if they are made.

 

 

Source: Twitter Rollbacks on Plan to Remove Inactive Accounts Amid User Concerns (Thurrot)

[Guest]

@Karlston, I have updated the title of my post, based on your latest post, to avoid confusion.