WEBVTT

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- I get it.

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Elon sucks.

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And now Twitter sucks.

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And there's a good chance
it's gonna get a lot worse

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before it gets better, if it gets better.

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So why not just delete
your account, right?

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(record screeches)

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Hold up.

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Ironically, if you're
really done with Twitter,

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the best course of action
might be to not delete it.

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I'll explain why.

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Hey everyone.

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Jake here with Lifehacker.

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Here's the best way to safely
remove yourself from Twitter.

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First, deleting your account
actually takes 30 days.

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So if you go in right now and hit delete,

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it will still stay in
limbo for about a month.

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And once those 30 days are up,

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your username returns to the public.

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Now, if your username is something

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like Bookworm79802431,
then maybe you don't care.

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But if it's close to your actual name,

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that could be a problem.

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Anyone could snatch up your old username

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and start tweeting as you.

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This is bad news for all of us.

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If you're someone with a presence,

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you obviously don't want
impersonators on the web.

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But even if you're not a celebrity,

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you don't want potential employers

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or school recruiters
finding your Twitter account

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and seeing tweets from
someone who isn't you.

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And once Twitter Blue is
back, this new fake version

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of you will have a
verification badge to boot.

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So here's what you should do.

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Abandon your Twitter.

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Just stop tweeting and liking,

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but keep it open so no
one can use the username.

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Then, use a tool

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like Tweet deleter to
delete your entire history

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of tweets and likes from your profile.

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Delete your bio

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and remove your profile
info from the account.

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And then finally, this is important.

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Change your password to
something unbreakable.

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Lock it up and throw away the key.

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So now if Twitter remains a dumpster fire,

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you don't have to be a part of it,

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but neither do you have to worry

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about a pesky Elon fan
impersonating you on the web.

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Thanks for watching.

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For more tips and tricks
on everything tech,

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be sure to stay tuned to Lifehacker.