====== Deleting Corporate Social Media ======

Deleting a corporate social media account takes deliberate effort. Platforms are designed to prevent it: deactivation presented as deletion, hidden menus, retention "grace periods," and multi-account structures that restore what you closed. The EU's [[https://gdpr-info.eu/art-17-gdpr/|GDPR Article 17]] right to erasure exists precisely because voluntary deletion is not enough.

Adapted from [[https://brennan.day/a-full-guide-to-properly-delete-corporate-social-media-accounts/|A Full Guide to Properly Delete Corporate Social Media Accounts]] on brennan.day.

===== Before Deletion =====

  * **Export first.** Every major platform offers a data export (e.g., [[https://reddit.com/settings/data-request|Reddit's data request]]). The export is the only copy of years of posts, photos, and DMs.
  * **Audit third-party logins.** "Sign in with X" means deleting X breaks the linked accounts. Switch them to email logins before deleting.
  * **Cancel subscriptions** billed through the platform before closing the account.
  * **Clear the human side.** Post a farewell note telling people where to find you, or the archive is orphaned. See [[indieweb:staying_findable|Staying Findable]].

===== The Traps =====

  * **Dark patterns.** The Norwegian Consumer Council's [[https://fil.forbrukerradet.no/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018-06-27-deceived-by-design-final.pdf|Deceived by Design]] documents the standard tricks: deletion buried in menus, deactivation framed as deletion, "Are you sure?" guilt screens. See [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_pattern|Wikipedia: dark pattern]].
  * **Grace periods.** Meta holds deletion for 30 days and revives the account on any login during that window. Log out everywhere and stay out until the window passes.
  * **The Meta tangle.** Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads are separate accounts under one Accounts Center. Deleting one does not touch the others, and Threads cannot be deleted without deleting its linked Instagram account.
  * **What remains.** Deletion removes the account, not the data already scraped, sold, or in third-party archives. Platform-held backups persist for some retention window.

The result is not disappearing from the internet. It is getting back a place you control. See [[https://indieweb.org/corporate_web|indieweb.org: corporate_web]] and [[https://indieweb.org/silo|silo]].

===== See Also =====

  * [[indieweb:start|IndieWeb]]
  * [[indieweb:harm_reduction|Harm Reduction]]
  * [[indieweb:syndication_vs_participation|Syndication vs. Participation]]
  * [[indieweb:indie_platforms|Independent Platforms]]
  * [[indieweb:domain_of_ones_own|A Domain of One's Own]]
  * [[indieweb:digital_gentrification|Digital Gentrification]]
  * [[start|Return to wiki home]]