Twitter clarifies about dead users’ accounts
I recently wondered what would happen to the late Safaricom CEO’s Twitter account and the 1.34M followers when I’m struggling with 8K. I became so jealous of the account that I ended up tweeting to Bob’s wife Wambui Kamiru Collymore. If she saw the tweet, I asked her to come up with a Non-Profit Organization that will keep the legend’s legacy alive and to change the Twitter account, and his other Social Media pages into something like RB Collymore Foundation.
That way they could keep his online accounts active by organizing activities and sharing contents that reflect what he believed and stood up for in his entire life.
I’ve signed @BlackQueenSN and @ONECampaign’s petition to demand the criminalisation of rape in Senegal. Together, we can put an end to gender-based violence @oneenafrique. #StopSexualViolence #Doyna https://t.co/jBxTJuyver
— Bob Collymore (@bobcollymore) June 29, 2019
Personally if given a chance, I would suggest that the pages champion for cancer patients by raising more awareness and pushing the conversation that may end up convincing some deaf government ears to do something. I’m a great believer in social media influence.
I also thought of the Twitter account belonging to Former United Nations Secretary-General, the late Koffi Annan. The Ghanaian global statesman died at the age of 80 after a short illness and it is actually his family and foundation that broke the news through Annan’s Twitter handle on August 18, 2018. The Facebook Page for Country Music legend Don Williams has been one very active even after the musician passed on some two years ago. The admins have been reminiscing Don’s life, music career, and organizing events.
Twitter had issued a statement warning that inactive accounts that have not logged in for six months would be deleted and usernames freed for other people who wish to join the platform. That was a good idea. There are users who created their accounts and vanished completely from the platform after holding up usernames that would have been used by people who want to be active. This has forced the new users to use shittiest names and even add some not meaningful numeric figures in their search for available usernames such as @EnockBett999 (Not real)
According to an article by Tech site, The Verge, Twitter Spokesperson said they would have sent emails to the owners of those accounts to log in before 11th December or risk losing their accounts for good. “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,” he said.
“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 has, however, halted the decision after an online uproar from some of the users who did not shy away to inquire about what would happen to their deceased relatives’ accounts. It may be relieving to go through the timelines of your beloved ones who have died. Interacting with the content they tweeted when they were alive can really bring back their spirit and joy to your hearts.
Read: JACK DORSEY: No more political advertisements on Twitter
Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey who was on his way back home after a 2-week Africa tour noted that the company is still deciding on ways to memorialize the dead users and that the feature will be available as soon as they have figured out the way to do it.
We’ve heard your feedback about our effort to delete inactive accounts and want to respond and clarify. Here’s what’s happening:
— Support (@Support) November 27, 2019
We’ve heard you on the impact that this would have on the accounts of the deceased. This was a miss on our part. We will not be removing any inactive accounts until we create a new way for people to memorialize accounts.
— Support (@Support) November 27, 2019
When I browsed further, I realized one can actually report a deceased family member’s account to Twitter for deactivation. ‘In the event of the death of a Twitter user, we can work with a person authorized to act on behalf of the estate, or with a verified immediate family member of the deceased to have an account deactivated,’ read the policy. One can further submit a removal request if they wish to have the deceased’s account done away with completely by providing an email, more detailed information about the dead user, a copy of their IDs, and that of the deceased’s death certificate. A necessary step Twitter says it helps to prevent false and/or unauthorized reports.