Social networking service Twitter logo displayed on a smartphone.
If you’ve got a fire Twitter username you want to keep, but haven’t logged in for the last six months due to a social hiatus, or internet cleanse, or whatever your reason for not logging into Twitter is, then you’ve got until December 11 to log in. Otherwise, the social media network will be deleting your account, thus freeing up your fire username to be snatched up by someone else.
Twitter’s inactive account policy has been around for a while, but users of inactive accounts received an email Tuesday saying in part, “you need to log in and follow the on-screen prompts before Dec. 11, 2019, otherwise your account will be removed from Twitter,” according to Twitter Spokesperson Aly Pavela.
“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,” Pavela told me in an email. “Part of this effort is encouraging people to actively log-in and use Twitter when they register an account. 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.”
She continued saying December 11 is the deadline to login and secure the account, but not necessarily the day the accounts will all be eliminated. But if you’re wanting to keep your account at all, just log in as soon as possible, so no chances are taken for possible deletion after December 11.
“Our goal for doing this work is as cited in the statement and more usernames becoming available is a byproduct of this work,” Pavela told me. “To note, this group of inactive accounts will be removed over many months – not all at once.”
Additionally, Pavela told me all impacted accounts, including bots with active streams of content being shared, will need to log in.
Regrettably, accounts belonging to those who have died or have been incapacitated, are at risk of being deleted if no one has logged into it for the past six months.
“We do not currently have a way to memorialize someone’s Twitter account once they have passed on, but the team is thinking about ways to do this,” Pavela told me. “Here's how people can contact Twitter to deactivate an account in the event of a death or incapacitation.”
