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Twitter to delete dormant accounts en mass

msknight
58 minutes ago, The1Dickens said:

This thought is so incredibly strange to me. Why is it important for a deceased person to have a social media presence? in what social circles are they still active? To what degree do they influence any social issues?

It's pretty simple: their account serves as a record of their online activity.  If you erase that, you erase something that people can remember them by, not to mention historical contexts if they're important enough.

 

Drew Olanoff at TechCrunch had a pretty good example of this: his dad used Twitter for years.  Each tweet was like a snippet of what Olanoff's dad was thinking at the time, a little bit of his personality.  If Twitter deleted that account, it'd be removing a whole bunch of memories in the process.

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7 minutes ago, Commodus said:

It's pretty simple: their account serves as a record of their online activity.  If you erase that, you erase something that people can remember them by, not to mention historical contexts if they're important enough.

 

Drew Olanoff at TechCrunch had a pretty good example of this: his dad used Twitter for years.  Each tweet was like a snippet of what Olanoff's dad was thinking at the time, a little bit of his personality.  If Twitter deleted that account, it'd be removing a whole bunch of memories in the process.

I have too many thoughts and questions on this, and it will likely not turn out well. Thanks for that perspective, though.

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While I don't use twitter one of the NFL Football websites uses twitter accounts as one form of sign in, so I'd hope not to lose it.

Other than that I couldn't care less about twitter.

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22 minutes ago, comander said:

That would fix too many things in the world. 

 

The blue haired rage mongerers wouldn't have it. 

I would have gone with pink haired.

 

Same difference. I wish I got suddenly ridiculously wealthy, like, enough to buy controlling interest in Twitter.

 

I'd force them to unban everyone who wasn't banned for a legal violation, and publicly enact a freedom of speech policy, explaining that "hate speech" is a completely non-sense term that can be applied to anything, and is also protected by free speech.

 

Then I'd buy a salt mine.

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Oh Twitter. 

That's good, I first thought it's Facebook (pretty much indistinguishable to me haha)

 

Because I just recalled I actually made a Facebook account to play Love Niki (best mobile game ever btw if you want to check it out)  and they force you to log in with a Facebook account lol.

 

So I suppose my little, cute Diva is safe from deletion?   

 

 

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On 11/26/2019 at 10:46 PM, msknight said:

They're putting it down to people who don't log in, being unable to aggree to new terms and sevices, which sounds hollow as if you're not logging in, you're not using the service!

 

That's not an entirely unsound policy, however there's two issues which I hope are addressed:

 

1) Dead (as in not living) people's accounts. Hopefully Twitter (and other social media like Youtube) address this tactfully, like making a "marker" icon which denotes an account that has been preserved due to (death, disaster, missing, notable event.) It would really suck for people who were on a plane that goes down have their Twitter accounts disappear. Simply leaving it up to MDE (Mass Data Entry) means it will get things wrong. Very wrong.

 

2) Family members estate accounts, this requires a bit more tact, but the Twitter users should denote a contact number for "inactivity", Google actually has something like this. Where a family or legal representative will have the account handled as part of someone's estate and thus it's "property" to be given to someone to decide on it's fate. 

 

It is twitters prerogative to delete things if they wish, but saying "can't agree to the ToS" is kinda just throwing a red herring. Every website in the world makes stealth changes to their ToS and does not notify their users. They only make their users re-agree to their ToS when there is a fundamental change in liability, otherwise "continued use of our services is agreeing to the ToS as written." Hence why my banks insist on sending me a physical pamphlet every time they change the cardholder agreement, which I swear happens every 6 months. 

 

Someone like myself who has 33,000 tweets, clearly is using the service, but I also used to use another piece of social media until Twitter came along. So suddenly abandoning a social media account is a thing that people do. Facebook I rarely touch, it creeps me out far more than Twitter ever did. The second twitter account? has like 10 tweets. It was used primarily to read a heavily trimmed down follow list to read on a mobile device that I no longer use.

 

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I've been thinking about this for some time, and I believe there will come a day when some services cease to memorialise the accounts of those who have passed on.

 

With some services such as this, which require handles, then there's a limit to the handles which will then become more obscure over time johndoe1837432 and the same will happen to hotmail/G-mail accounts ... and if one service re-uses handles when another doesn't, then you'll eventually end up with an e-mail address on one system, which another won't let you register with, because someone else has had it in the past, and their account is memorialised... so a living person will not be able to use a service at all, unless they get themselves another e-mail account that hasn't previously been seen/memorialised on a particular service.

 

Social media is like building sandcastles on a beach. Eventually, the tide is going to come in and wash them away. And in some cases, that's going to happen even before we've finished the castle. To a degree, services memorialising accounts is  lying to the bereaved... but I suppose no more than a graveyard will re-cycle plots over 100 years old. Or in Greece where burial plots are rented on a 3 year basis.

 

http://www.talkdeath.com/cemetery-overcrowding-leading-europe-recycle-burial-plots/

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Ive never had issues with policies like this.

 

Obv if you go 6 months without so much as logging in it didnt mean much to you (obv their are rare cases that thats not the case but i digress) 

 

I love twitter personally. I just use it to piss snowflakes off though. So maybe thats why. Lol.

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25 minutes ago, RonnieOP said:

Ive never had issues with policies like this.

 

Obv if you go 6 months without so much as logging in it didnt mean much to you (obv their are rare cases that thats not the case but i digress) 

 

I love twitter personally. I just use it to piss snowflakes off though. So maybe thats why. Lol.

What about dead people?  I know I wouldn't want Twitter to pave over my account and erase years of memories just because I couldn't get a relative to log in every few months.  And sometimes it's simply that there's a well-known account that had to stop operating for one reason or another.

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9 minutes ago, Commodus said:

What about dead people?  I know I wouldn't want Twitter to pave over my account and erase years of memories just because I couldn't get a relative to log in every few months.  And sometimes it's simply that there's a well-known account that had to stop operating for one reason or another.

They are dead....so not sure why it would matter. If the relatives cant or dont care to sign in twice a year they must not care about the tweets to much right? When you die out of all the things to worry about is tweets really going to be a priority? Does anyone really need a reminder of the time someone tweeted at mark hammil saying the new star wars sucks?

 

Also they could just screenshot and save the wanted tweets if it was a concerned 

 

And if its a well known account that has stopped operating then its stopped operating. Whats the point in keeping it around? 

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On 11/28/2019 at 3:33 PM, vorticalbox said:

Twitter has now paused this.

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50581287

Effectively pausing my hope that my old unreachable twitter account would be deleted. I wish they would come up with some kind of efficient way for users with inaccessible accounts to request deletion, but that creates a whole bunch of other issues.

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34 minutes ago, RonnieOP said:

They are dead....so not sure why it would matter. If the relatives cant or dont care to sign in twice a year they must not care about the tweets to much right? When you die out of all the things to worry about is tweets really going to be a priority? Does anyone really need a reminder of the time someone tweeted at mark hammil saying the new star wars sucks?

 

Also they could just screenshot and save the wanted tweets if it was a concerned 

 

And if its a well known account that has stopped operating then its stopped operating. Whats the point in keeping it around? 

Why should they have to log in, though?  And what happens when those relatives pass away or are unable to log in?  Preserving someone's online legacy shouldn't be an eternal relay race where you must always have someone with a username and password on hand.

 

Not every tweet is important, but it still offers insight into what that person was thinking.  That Drew Olanoff piece on TechCrunch that I mentioned earlier is a good example of why it's important to keep accounts -- Twitter lets him remember not just the major events in his dad's life, but all the little twists and turns of his dad's personality.

 

Screenshotting isn't practical.  What if someone had account for several years, and there are dozens or hundreds of posts you'd like to keep?  What about the replies that might add context?  What if you later decide that a post would be important?  And of course, it's much harder to share or search for memories if they exist as nothing more than some PNGs in a folder.

 

The point of keeping a well-known but inactive account around is so that you can reference it later, whether it's for memory's sake or for academic research.  The internet doesn't have to be treated like a damnatio memoriae where people and entities are erased the moment they're no longer active; this doesn't mean forcing Twitter to leave every account open, but it shouldn't just treat years of content like it never happened.

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15 minutes ago, Commodus said:

Why should they have to log in, though?  And what happens when those relatives pass away or are unable to log in?  Preserving someone's online legacy shouldn't be an eternal relay race where you must always have someone with a username and password on hand.

 

Not every tweet is important, but it still offers insight into what that person was thinking.  That Drew Olanoff piece on TechCrunch that I mentioned earlier is a good example of why it's important to keep accounts -- Twitter lets him remember not just the major events in his dad's life, but all the little twists and turns of his dad's personality.

 

Screenshotting isn't practical.  What if someone had account for several years, and there are dozens or hundreds of posts you'd like to keep?  What about the replies that might add context?  What if you later decide that a post would be important?  And of course, it's much harder to share or search for memories if they exist as nothing more than some PNGs in a folder.

 

The point of keeping a well-known but inactive account around is so that you can reference it later, whether it's for memory's sake or for academic research.  The internet doesn't have to be treated like a damnatio memoriae where people and entities are erased the moment they're no longer active; this doesn't mean forcing Twitter to leave every account open, but it shouldn't just treat years of content like it never happened.

So who determines what account is well known? The whole "preserving memories" argument doesnt really mean anything if its only for well known accounts. It means you dont really care about their memories unless they were famous.

 

Is the memories of a dead grandfather worthless because they tweeted alot but had basically no followers? But the twitter of a famous person whos passed is worth something? 

 

If you need twitter to remember a loved one then idk what to tell you. Seems like you had really bad priorities when it comes to loved ones. And considering most peoples dead parents are not "well known" accounts they wouldnt even be preserved with your compromise.

 

Idk what academic research would be pulled from a twitter account. If someone has some sort of grand discovery in a field i doubt the only place they publish it will be twitter. 

 

Twitter is a private company that could cease to exist at any moment. Theres literally no reason someone should be using it to preserve their menories. Theres no reason to expect them to either imo.

 

I agree that the "tos" reason they gave is bs. But they have to give a formal business answer. Personally i wouldnt be upset if they just said they were clearing out the old shit that was taking up space. They are warning people. So log in if you wanna keep your account or screenshot the things you want saved 

 

If someone leaves a bag at my house and doesnt come get it or communicate with me for 6 months i have no obligation to hold on to it. 

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10 minutes ago, RonnieOP said:

So who determines what account is well known? The whole "preserving memories" argument doesnt really mean anything if its only for well known accounts. It means you dont really care about their memories unless they were famous.

 

Is the memories of a dead grandfather worthless because they tweeted alot but had basically no followers? But the twitter of a famous person whos passed is worth something? 

 

If you need twitter to remember a loved one then idk what to tell you. Seems like you had really bad priorities when it comes to loved ones. And considering most peoples dead parents are not "well known" accounts they wouldnt even be preserved with your compromise.

 

Idk what academic research would be pulled from a twitter account. If someone has some sort of grand discovery in a field i doubt the only place they publish it will be twitter. 

 

Twitter is a private company that could cease to exist at any moment. Theres literally no reason someone should be using it to preserve their menories. Theres no reason to expect them to either imo.

 

I agree that the "tos" reason they gave is bs. But they have to give a formal business answer. Personally i wouldnt be upset if they just said they were clearing out the old shit that was taking up space. They are warning people. So log in if you wanna keep your account or screenshot the things you want saved 

 

If someone leaves a bag at my house and doesnt come get it or communicate with me for 6 months i have no obligation to hold on to it. 

The decision on how well-known an account might be is a tricky one, but I think we should make it -- and it's important to stress this would be separate from people asking to preserve the account of a loved one.  I never said that only well-known accounts should be remembered, just that well-known accounts may have significance independent of any one family.

 

You don't need Twitter to remember the deceased, but it can easily help.  Why try to remember what someone was thinking when you can see exactly what they said?

 

And there's plenty of reasons why researchers might want to look at old tweets.  They may provide insight into a historical event, a cultural trend or the discussion around a political issue, for example.

 

Yes, Twitter is a private company, but it's also serving as a major platform for communication, and its decisions can have serious consequences.  I don't want the government to force it to keep accounts -- I do, however, think it's good for people to push companies for options to preserve accounts.  We should be thinking about social networking and the internet as long-term platforms that may last for decades or centuries, and that means treating people's posts as more than just throwaways.  Your bag metaphor isn't really accurate here.  This is more like getting rid of someone's diary or photo album -- you're getting rid of something that can never be replaced and might hold intense meanings.

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TBH if LTT did that after every giveaway, there's more chance for people who are actually active to win it in the future. 

 

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1 hour ago, Commodus said:

The decision on how well-known an account might be is a tricky one, but I think we should make it -- and it's important to stress this would be separate from people asking to preserve the account of a loved one.  I never said that only well-known accounts should be remembered, just that well-known accounts may have significance independent of any one family.

 

You don't need Twitter to remember the deceased, but it can easily help.  Why try to remember what someone was thinking when you can see exactly what they said?

 

And there's plenty of reasons why researchers might want to look at old tweets.  They may provide insight into a historical event, a cultural trend or the discussion around a political issue, for example.

 

Yes, Twitter is a private company, but it's also serving as a major platform for communication, and its decisions can have serious consequences.  I don't want the government to force it to keep accounts -- I do, however, think it's good for people to push companies for options to preserve accounts.  We should be thinking about social networking and the internet as long-term platforms that may last for decades or centuries, and that means treating people's posts as more than just throwaways.  Your bag metaphor isn't really accurate here.  This is more like getting rid of someone's diary or photo album -- you're getting rid of something that can never be replaced and might hold intense meanings.

But again your compromise on "well known" would never work. A guy whos father dies would argue his father was well known to his family and community. Everyone would be making the case that their loved one is well known. It would be a shit show tbh.

 

And anything researchers could possibly want to know can easily be researched without twitter. I doubt twitter would even be anywhere near the top of researches minds when it comes to research.

 

Twitter is a social media platform on the internet. But it is not all of social media or the internet. Just like everything else theres a good chance that it will be replaced by something else. Kinda like myspace.

 

Ok so switch bag for diary/photo album. If someone leaves those at my house and for 6 months doesnt come get them or communicate with me theres 0 obligation for me to keep them. They would get tossed in the trash. 

 

If something is that meaningful and can never be replaced. You should never ever rely on a private company to preserve it. Theres no reason to expect a faceless company to do that for everyone.

 

Point is. If something is important to you then do something about it. Preserve whatever you want however you want. But never expect strangers to do it for you.

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On 11/30/2019 at 3:20 PM, RonnieOP said:

But again your compromise on "well known" would never work. A guy whos father dies would argue his father was well known to his family and community. Everyone would be making the case that their loved one is well known. It would be a shit show tbh.

 

And anything researchers could possibly want to know can easily be researched without twitter. I doubt twitter would even be anywhere near the top of researches minds when it comes to research.

 

Twitter is a social media platform on the internet. But it is not all of social media or the internet. Just like everything else theres a good chance that it will be replaced by something else. Kinda like myspace.

 

Ok so switch bag for diary/photo album. If someone leaves those at my house and for 6 months doesnt come get them or communicate with me theres 0 obligation for me to keep them. They would get tossed in the trash. 

 

If something is that meaningful and can never be replaced. You should never ever rely on a private company to preserve it. Theres no reason to expect a faceless company to do that for everyone.

 

Point is. If something is important to you then do something about it. Preserve whatever you want however you want. But never expect strangers to do it for you.

I really, really don't think it's a challenge to determine which accounts are "well-known" or not.  All verified users.  People with prominent business or political positions.  People with follower counts above threshold X.  And if there's any doubt, put in a review system so that Twitter can decide whether or not an account warrants protection.

 

And I'm sorry, but you completely misunderstood what I said about research.  In many cases, the posts would be the research.  Cultural anthropologists and historians would want to see the tweets themselves.  There's no replacing them with something else.  And besides, even if there's alternative data, good researchers look at all data available -- why not keep it around if it'll help provide historical context?

 

No, you shouldn't be wholly dependent on a private company to keep your records, and times change, but that doesn't mean you can't press them to keep things in addition to whatever preservation you do yourself.  Especially if that company stands to lose very little by preserving your data.

 

What I can't help but wonder is why you're so eager to delete people's accounts.  Is there some dead person's username that you're hoping to steal?  Do you think it's some horrible, terrible burden for Twitter to hold on to that small fraction of accounts that have gone unused when it has 145 million daily active users?  I do think Twitter can benefit from clearing up some clutter, but it should distinguish between someone who wrote six posts and quit versus someone who spent a significant chunk of their life using the service.

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5 hours ago, Commodus said:

I really, really don't think it's a challenge to determine which accounts are "well-known" or not.  All verified users.  People with prominent business or political positions.  People with follower counts above threshold X.  And if there's any doubt, put in a review system so that Twitter can decide whether or not an account warrants protection.

 

And I'm sorry, but you completely misunderstood what I said about research.  In many cases, the posts would be the research.  Cultural anthropologists and historians would want to see the tweets themselves.  There's no replacing them with something else.  And besides, even if there's alternative data, good researchers look at all data available -- why not keep it around if it'll help provide historical context?

 

No, you shouldn't be wholly dependent on a private company to keep your records, and times change, but that doesn't mean you can't press them to keep things in addition to whatever preservation you do yourself.  Especially if that company stands to lose very little by preserving your data.

 

What I can't help but wonder is why you're so eager to delete people's accounts.  Is there some dead person's username that you're hoping to steal?  Do you think it's some horrible, terrible burden for Twitter to hold on to that small fraction of accounts that have gone unused when it has 145 million daily active users?  I do think Twitter can benefit from clearing up some clutter, but it should distinguish between someone who wrote six posts and quit versus someone who spent a significant chunk of their life using the service.

Im not eager at all. they can either do it if they want or not.

 

Ive just yet to see a compelling reason as to why they shouldnt if they want to.

 

You make it seem like some mind blowing important thing has been tweeted and should be preserved. Thats not the case. As if there some significant tweets that will help researchers later in life. Thats not the case either.

 

 

 

 

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There are ways to download a twitter feed - just the first one that popped up on a search - https://www.exporttweet.com/download-tweets-from-user and some are prettier than others.

 

If you cherish it... download it. We shouldn't be expecting a service to maintain those accounts. Options exist for people who need them. The world continues to turn and doesn't care about bags of mostly water.

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Makes me wonder if LTT will soon follow for accounts that haven’t logged in for more than a year. 

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On 11/26/2019 at 11:46 PM, msknight said:

Twitter is reported to be getting ready to delete dormant accounts that haven't been active in the last 6 months. -

that is great, but will they delete the stored info rather then sell it off?

 

i think facebook should follow with 6 months and delete everything

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20 hours ago, amdorintel said:

that is great, but will they delete the stored info rather then sell it off?

 

i think facebook should follow with 6 months and delete everything

Noooo... I'm gonna lose my beloved Love Niki character!

 

 

I'm honestly wondering how they deal with stuff like this (both, um,  organizations) 

 

I actually paid real money for this game and if they delete my fb acc I won't be able to access it at all... (btw fb account is also the only way to keep your progress,  there are no other options) 

 

I know with mtx games it's like that if they go down you lose everything (why I stopped playing them) but I still wonder about the legality of things like this (randomly closing accounts because you didn't use them for a while for example) 

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