Twitter won’t delete user accounts till it figures out how to memorialise the accounts of the dead

A couple of days ago, Twitter announced that it will start deleting accounts of users who have been inactive for at least six months. Users had already started getting warning emails from the company regarding the same. Twitter said this was being done to cleap up Twitter, but as a bonus, it would also free up a tonne of usernames.

While the plan sounds great, it appears there's a small hitch. As per a recent series of tweets, the company is halting this process and will only restart it after it has found a way to memorialise the accounts of deceased users. The company must have realised, following feedback from users, that it cannot just delete those accounts without appearing insensitive.

(Also read: Twitter intends to deactivate all accounts that have been inactive for at least six months)

People holding mobile phones are silhouetted against a backdrop projected with the Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken in Warsaw September 27, 2013. Image: Reuters

The process of deleting inactive accounts will be resumed as it is a part of their Inactive account policy. Image: Reuters

In a report by TechCrunch, whose headline reads, "You can take my dad's tweets over my dead body", the author mentioned that his father passed away four years ago and that he still reads his tweets every now and then, and that is his way of remembering him. He further said that Twitter is "sweeping" such accounts "like crumpled-up paper and junk in a dustbin". He said his father's account isn't "inactive, he passed away".

Later, the company tweeted apologising to all the users for the confusion it had created. The tweet further read, "We’ve heard you on the impact that this would have on the accounts of the deceased. This was a miss on our part,”. Twitter will now resume this process only after it has created a new way to memorialise accounts of the deceased. The 11 December deadline has been extended.

(Also read: Twitter will now let you turn on two-factor authentication without a phone number)



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