If you haven’t checked in on Twitter in a while, you might want to log in; otherwise, you may risk your account getting deleted. Inactive Twitter users will soon be kicked off of the site as Twitter plans to remove all inactive accounts beginning next month.
A BBC news reporter, Dave Lee, broke the news on Twitter, saying that the social network plans to delete accounts that have remained dormant for more than six months. That time period remains vague, however, since “more than six months” could mean anything from seven months to more than seven years.
Lee tweeted that Twitter would begin the process on December 11, so if you have an account you haven’t logged into for a while, get to tweeting.
We reached out to Twitter to find out more information on how the platform plans to delete the accounts, as well as an estimate of how many inactive accounts there are, but we haven’t heard back yet.
Twitter released a statement to TechCrunch on the matter, saying, “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.”
Twitter’s current inactive account policy states that inactivity is based on logging in, not tweeting, so if you have logged into your account recently but haven’t tweeted since 2017, your account will be fine. Twitter’s policy recommends logging into your account every six months or so to reduce the risk of your account getting deleted.
A Twitter spokesperson also told TechCrunch that the process of deleting all of these inactive accounts could take months, so if one of those accounts has a username you’ve been trying to snag, you’ll have to hold out a little bit longer. Still, it’s good news for lots of Twitter users who are holding out on a new username.
Twitter is shutting down inactive accounts to free up usernames. Finally, my nemesis will be defeated https://t.co/iaR9m8pe26
— ☀️ (@notlex682) November 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/HSYYXY/status/1199442082617872384?s=20
