I Just Lost My Twitter Account
A couple of months ago, I deactivated my Twitter account. Yesterday, I wanted to log in, only to realize my account had been fully deleted due to the platform's deactivation policy. As a long-time user, I'm baffled by how I forgot to log in for almost three to four months, letting it be cleared from the amazing world of the Musk-verse.
I had been an active user of Twitter since starting my bachelor's degree in Iran. Although I switched accounts twice - I deleted my first one out of frustration, an accident much like this time - I had a decent overall experience. I found many friends there during my first stint (2019-2023). At the same time, having an active public account on Twitter also meant I didn't really care about my mental health and enjoyed self-harm.
My second era was less controversial but more boring. After I moved to China, I began using it more but felt heavily disconected from the trends on Farsi Twitter (the Iranian Twitter community). It wasn't the best experience overall. I couldn't keep up with most discussions, and even my perspective from an exterior angle was not the most adequate. I noticed my life experiences weren't something I wanted to share publicly anymore. I was afraid that my being happy in China—a country not very popular among many Iranians and Western nations—might be interpreted as my being paid by the CCP to push propaganda. I even came across such comments once or twice when I tweeted about my life.
I do understand that you can ignore what people say online, and that's a valid approach, but it requires its own energy and time—energy I no longer see a reason to expend as I've grown to prefer more privacy in my (recently private) life. I enjoy sharing pictures on my private IG account and talking about my life with friends, but when that experience becomes written text on a very healthy and friendly atmosphere like Twitter, it can circulate to a degree where you'll get random neo-Nazis commenting on your tweet about how the sky is blue or the grass is green.
Yet, I'm glad to have lost my account forever. Funnily enough, I realized I still have a private burner account with only 20 followers (my closer friends) that I haven't used in a long time. I have no plans to use it actively; I'll just keep it to open links I see here and there to download stuff from Twitter.