Twitter is purging inactive accounts including people who have died, angering those still grieving

The Associated Press featured Shira Gabriel in a report that Twitter is purging inactive accounts, including memorialized accounts for those that have passed, angering many users. Gabriel says these are electronic reminders of those close to us. “In this modern age, we have these electronic reminders of people — (including) little snippets of a thought they had on a particular day or pictures that they shared,” Gabriel says, noting that looking through a late loved one’s social media can be a healthy way of processing grief and gather as a community in remembrance. The prospect of that resource disappearing “can bring about a sense of mourning again,” Gabriel says. “There is a real psychological cost of getting rid of this digital thumbprint that was left behind and this ability for community members to gather in one spot.”