zlacker

>>joeman+(OP)
I wouldn't delete social media accounts because they might become available to register for malicious actors who can then impersonate you. Keep the accounts, just don't use them any more.

>>bflesc+34
There isn't anything unique about your account on most social media platforms. This isn't a "plant your flag" situation like when trying to prevent identity theft. You don't need to register your account before a bad actor does. Sure, I created an online account with the IRS, credit bureaus, etc. before somebody else could. That's important because they are tied to unique identifiers like your SSN, etc. But somebody could just create a social media account impersonating you even if you already have an account on that social network. There isn't anything enforcing the uniqueness.

>>atrett+W5
I’m pretty sure GP is saying if you already had an account and you delete it, it’s trivially easy for someone to register with your old handle and impersonate you

Of course people can always impersonate you but the goal here is to prevent them from impersonating you with a social handle people knew you had.

>>chenmi+h6
If I recall correctly, the handle you deleted stays inactive and is unavailable to new registrants. This is present on Google at least, I assume it's the same elsewhere.

>>jjuliu+T6
Not the case on Twitter. It becomes instantly available to anyone who wants it.

>>esskay+ib
Well that seems... dumb.