Last week we talked about what happens to Facebook accounts after the user has passed away. This week let’s talk about Twitter. In 2010, Twitter established an official policy dealing with the accounts of the deceased. Twitter users can report an account as deceased and request an archive of all public Tweets from that user or just ask the Twitter administrators to completely remove the account. According to the Twitter Help Center, “Please note: We are unable to provide account access to anyone regardless of his or her relationship to the deceased.”
Currently, unlike Facebook, Twitter does not convert the profile into any type of memorial. However, when you report an account that belongs to someone deceased, Twitter does require that you submit proof that the user is no longer with us and proof that you are who you say you are. These rules are meant to prevent people from being able to deactivate accounts before the user is actually deceased.
Do you have a Twitter account? How do you feel about these policies? Let us know by tweeting at us @inConcertWeb (and follow us, too!)