If you are thinking about your X strategy then the example of Centre Parcs UK shows the need to maybe mothball rather than delete.
The woodland residential holiday destination deleted their account with a minimum of fuss some months ago.
However, after the 30-day deactivation period the account was permanently deleted. Once this happens it becomes available fo anyone to use.
A BBC story records that an eagle-eyed user spotted the handle’s availability and decided to claim it for himself. The user then started to receive direct messages from people with detailed customer service questions about bookings.
Taking a look at X now, the @centerparcsuk account has been suspended due to suspicious behaviour.
What appears to have compounded the problem is that Center Parcs still had their old X account listed on their website.
All this does lead to a few questions for public sector comms people looking to navigate away from the platform.
I’ve blogged before that journalists and politicians are still doing well out of X. However, corporate accounts in the public sector are performing poorly. There could be a number of reasons for this. They don’t post the breaking news or rage-baiting that some journalists post in the space. Their residents aren’t generally using the platform to discuss local matters. Facebook groups and Nextdoor do that far more effectively.
But this does pose the question of what to do if you are winding down your X approach.
The Irish goodbye of leaving with the site intact and without fanfare does seem attractive.
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Picture credit: By James Allan, CC BY-SA 2.0 Ponies on the Beach.