Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users • Hacker News Board

Re: Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users

#61

Post by dmix » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 4:13 AM UTC

OJFord wrote: post #29

hombre_fatal wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Twitter said the effort is not, as had been suggested by some users on the network, an attempt to free up usernames. > The site said it was because users who do not log-in were unable to agree to its updated privacy policies.

That.. makes sense, but is almost suspiciously proactive.

6 months is quite a bold number, much harsher than domain names would do. I’d get like two years which is probably still tens of millions.

That’s a lot of potential digital content that will go dark.

Re: Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users

#62

Post by unityByFreedom » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 4:16 AM UTC

CKN23-ARIN wrote: post #40

unityByFreedom wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that make sense? Why should a privacy policy be retroactive on things I already posted?

Because Twitter potentially bears liability by hosting them into the future, and is only willing to bear that liability if you agree to their terms.

Citation needed. If they receive a copyright takedown request and don't act on it, then they're liable. Otherwise I don't see where liability comes into play. Please cite court cases showing websites are liable for content posted by its users. Nobody is using Twitter to archive copyrighted material.

Re: Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users

#63

Post by kick » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 4:16 AM UTC

paul7986 wrote: post #42

Are there any Twitter folks here... how can i can access to my 12 year old account? I lost the email its associated with and really would like to regain access! Has anyone been able to recover their account that was in this state?

If you remember what the email was, check for if it's ever been in a data breach, then run a password cracker on the hash.

Re: Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users

#64

Post by philliphaydon » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 4:18 AM UTC

geofft wrote: post #59

prawn wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I follow an acquaintance on Twitter who set up an auto-tweet while he was alive. Now, after his death, he still tweets whenever the weather drops below a certain temperature in Scotland.

Now I'm wondering what your acquaintance's tech stack is, and more generally, what the most reliable way to keep running scheduled jobs after death is - since Twitter won't remove accounts that still log in, I kind of want to set up a cronjob to keep my username active for as long as I can. (Assume that the job itself doesn't change, i.e., there's no need to move away from a deprecated API.) Maybe Lambda + CloudWatch…

Not sure it would matter if the CC was closed or not. If you're running a Lambda a few times a day you would fall into the free tier for... ever until they change the free tier.

So the question would be does your account stay active despite an expired credit card which is never invoked cos you never put your account into debt?

Re: Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users

#65

Post by kick » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 4:19 AM UTC

geofft wrote: post #59

prawn wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I follow an acquaintance on Twitter who set up an auto-tweet while he was alive. Now, after his death, he still tweets whenever the weather drops below a certain temperature in Scotland.

Now I'm wondering what your acquaintance's tech stack is, and more generally, what the most reliable way to keep running scheduled jobs after death is - since Twitter won't remove accounts that still log in, I kind of want to set up a cronjob to keep my username active for as long as I can. (Assume that the job itself doesn't change, i.e., there's no need to move away from a deprecated API.) Maybe Lambda + CloudWatch…

He probably used IFTTT.

Re: Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users

#66

Post by zelly » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 4:20 AM UTC

fullstop wrote: post #20

eggsome wrote: post #17

They've already started deleting old tweets for some reason. I only tweeted 4 times and the 2 oldest tweets are gone :(

I had a tweet from 2006, right after launch. It just said "this is dumb". It's gone now.

jack probably messed up while testing

Re: Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users

#67

Post by kick » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 4:20 AM UTC

echelon wrote: post #48

dylan604 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does one prove a negative? A deleted tweet from 2006 where nobody has taken a screen shot. It's not an active account like POTUS with the entire world watching specifically for catching deletes. I'm seriously asking

Internet Archive. Account metrics. Cached search results. There are probably a number of potential ways.

That doesn't seem like a big deal at all. They don't do blanket removals of tweets.

Re: Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users

#68

Post by sandoooo » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 4:22 AM UTC

There is a nonzero chance that various political figures will have their handles 'accidentally' deactivated and inserted into the available pool. An enterprising body should set some bots up right now just in case there's lulz to be had.

Should also have a tweet lined up, in case they catch their mistake fast. Something like 'we're nuking wales tmr'.

Re: Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users

#69

Post by kick » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 4:23 AM UTC

generalpass wrote: post #8

> The cull will include users who stopped posting to the site because they died... Indeed, your tweets die with you. I wonder about really popular personalities?

They suspended Robin Williams's account after he died, so they probably wouldn't be against it.

Re: Twitter prepares for cull of inactive users

#70

Post by lukec11 » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 4:28 AM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #13

throw_m239339 wrote: post #6

> In future, the firm said it would also look at accounts where people have logged in but don't "do anything" on the platform. Yes, Twitter is going to purge a lot of accounts, the same accounts Twitter boasted about having pre IPO in order to fake growth.

That sucks! I have an account. I log in but I never post. I only use it to follow some interesting accounts —that is all. I don’t contact customer service i don’t feign outrage I don’t virtue signal I don’t post memes... it’s by all means passive. WTF, I just want to follow some accounts which disseminate useful information.

I do the same with Reddit and HN - I have an account because I'm on the platform, but I rarely comment. This probably won't be a great move for Twitter, especially given how little time they've provided.