However, Twitter has now put the plan on hold after acknowledging user feedback that accounts of deceased users would be lost.

Unlike Facebook, Twitter does not currently have a way for family members to memorialize content of those who have passed away. Faced with such backlash, the social media giant has temporarily put their plan to delete inactive accounts on hold until such a process is created.

I personally know many firms that have Twitter accounts, but they do not use them. When this purge eventually takes place, their accounts are in jeopardy of being deleted.

I would caution against letting this happen, especially if your handle is your personal name, your practice name or something else specific to your firm. In the age of internet marketing, your branding matters. You don’t want to open the door for someone else to come along and scoop up a username that you want to be associated with your firm.

Plus, Twitter is an excellent place to engage with referral sources and the media who cover your community. Unlike Facebook where people don’t necessarily chat personally with “strangers,” it’s really the whole point of Twitter. So if there’s a particular journalist you’ve been hoping to get in front of, or maybe there’s a local business who has a big social media presence that you’d like to start chatting with… Twitter is a great place to do just that.

Of course, continuing to stake claim to your account is easy—just POST new content every now and then! Once you are ready to move beyond merely saving your account name, the next step would be to engage with others on the platform.

You should be doing this anyway…not because it will get you a massive amount of new clients (it won’t) but it helps to show a level of authority and credibility when prospective clients, referral sources, and the media are researching your firm online. Having a solid social media presence beefs up your online real estate and helps you showcase your expertise in a way that maybe your competitors are not taking advantage of.

So, if it’s been a while since you posted on Twitter, take FIVE MINUTES and go send an update. Post a tip, a picture, a quote… ANYTHING. Just get your account out of “inactive” territory so that you don’t have to worry if and when Twitter decides to purge.

Of course, if one of your goals heading into 2020 is to keep your social media accounts consistently updated with educational content and you need some help, please feel free to reach out.

Our team can not only help create engaging content for you, but we can also manage all of your platforms so that you are getting out in front of people in your community each and every day. If you’d like to discuss some options, simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.