Find and Delete Old Social Media Profiles

Since October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, I thought I’d write a quick blog on a security matter near and dear to my heart: managing your social media profiles.

First, a bit of perspective. MySpace went live in 2003. Ten years later, we have hundreds of social media sites to choose from.

Quick question: In the past ten years, have you signed up for a social media site you no longer use?

Just one? <wink>

Maybe you should spend a few minutes tracking down and deleting some of those old social media profiles. Fortunately, I’ve got a few resources to help you do it quickly (and, hopefully, painlessly).

1. Head on over to NameChk.com and plug in your favorite social media username. When you click Chk, NameChk will visit 157 social networking and social bookmarking sites to see if that user exists. All you need to do to confirm is click on each button that says taken. (You may have to plug in a few usernames, depending on how many handles you’ve used over the years, but chances are you’ll turn over a rock or two.)
2. Think you might have missed a few? You can always visit KnowEm.com and give it a go. KnowEm checks almost four times as many sites as NameChk, although it’s not quite as user-friendly. It’s amazing how much of a timesaver NameChk’s clickable taken button can be. The developers over at KnowEm should take note.
3. Once you have the list of social networks you want to leave permanently, swing by DeleteYourAccount. This site’s a one-stop-shop for finding step-by-step instructions on how to remove yourself from social networks.

If you’re not ready to leave yet, at least update the list of apps that have access to your social media profiles.