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Division of University Communications
University at Buffalo (UB)
Division of University Communications
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Guidance for Closing Social Media Accounts

If you are planning to close or decommission one of your social media accounts, follow the best practices below.

Timing

Before you start deactivating your account(s), consider the following:

  1. Have you notified and discussed the strategy/approach with your Unit Social Media Lead?
  2. What is the best time of year to begin this process?
    • Determine whether there are any critical printed materials or other collateral referencing your social accounts that will need to be adjusted, and consider how/when to make this change in order to best minimize the impact
  3. Have you identified an appropriate shared or partner UB account to direct your followers to in order to stay connected to UB after your account(s) close?
    • Consider your target audiences and key messages
    • Consult with your department and Unit Social Media Lead
    • If there isn’t a suitable partner account to direct your followers to following the closure, consider encouraging users to stay connected by following UB’s institutional accounts and #UBuffalo for news and updates

Once you have made the decision to close your social media account(s), it is recommended that you deactivate them over the course of four weeks to ensure your active followers have seen your communications and allow them time to migrate to any new or existing shared/partner account(s), as appropriate. 

Recommended Schedule and Actions

Use the following workback schedule as a guide to communicate the account closing to your followers:

Post 1: One month prior to closing account: 

  • Announce that the account will be closing in one month and encourage audience to follow any shared/partner accounts to stay updated on your given subject matter (see sample message for example)

Post 2: Two weeks prior to closing account: 

  • Post a reminder that your unit/department will no longer be utilizing the account and again encourage your audience to follow any shared/partner accounts, as appropriate, for news and updates
  • Change the bio/about section of the page to acknowledge the close of the account and direct followers to go to the shared/partner account's page for updates/news

Post 3: 48-hours prior to closing the account: 

  • Post a notice that the account will be permanently closed as of [DATE] and will no longer be accessible. Include a final reminder to follow any shared/partner accounts, as appropriate
  • Remove branding from the accounts (in the cover photo or profile image etc). Leave the bio intact
  • Do not post any additional content from the account

Close the account: 

  • Follow the instructions outlined below to prepare and deactivate your page/account
  • Remove or update references to the social account from other sources, as outlined below

Notify all stakeholders:

Sample message:

Important news for our followers! 📢 The [NAME OF TEAM AND SOCIAL ACCOUNT] channel will be closing [DATE], but there are PLENTY of ways to stay connected with #UBuffalo. Follow [TAG APPROPRIATE ACCOUNT] now so you don’t miss a thing! We’ll see you over there. 👋

Account Closure Best Practices by Channel

Step 1: Go to Page Roles OR Meta Business Manager and update the list of admins and remove any connected ad accounts and apps:

  • It is recommended that at least two admins from your unit/department remain owners of the page, as to not lose access, but other admins who no longer need access can be removed
  • Be sure to store this information in a shared location (e.g. Box) so your department has record of it

Step 2: If you’d like to preserve any information from your page, request a download of the page info or data (instructions below). This can take up to one week to get (typically provided within 48 hours):

Step 3: On the date of close, choose one of the following options:

  1. Deactivate the page
    1. Deactivating the page his will allow you to effectively remove the page from public view (only admins will be able to see it), but retain access in the event you need to access or reactivate the page.
    2. Set a reminder in 6 months to assess whether you want to permanently delete the page.  
    3. If, at that point, you feel confident about the new direction and means of communicating without the social account, delete the page. If you still have reservations, take another 6 months and decide then. 
    4. If you’re not in need of the account after a year, it’s probably safe to remove.
  2. Remove as much visibility as possible (follow this step if you are enrolled in the Unified Reporting Program)
    1. If you manage an Instagram account and are enrolled in Unified Reporting, do not permanently delete your Facebok page. This will disable your account in Sprinklr and prevent your Instagram data from pulling in the future. 
    2. Instead follow the steps outlined here to reduce visibility.

Step 1: If the Group is public, go to the Group Settings, and make the group private. 

  • Only existing members of the group will still be able to engage. 

Step 2: Go to the Members Tab of the Group and remove any admins that no longer need access as well as any connected ad accounts and apps. Keep in mind:

  • If you want to retain access to the Group without permanently deleting it, leave at least two admins from your unit/department in as admins of the Group
  • Be sure to store this information in a shared location (e.g. Box) so your department has record of it

Step 3: To permanently delete the Group, all members of the group must first be removed.

  • Once all members are removed, Facebook will automatically delete the Group

Step 1: If connected to Meta Business Manager, remove any admins that no longer need access as well as any connected ad accounts and apps

Step 2: Save your account credentials in a shared location (e.g. Box) so your department/unit retains access to the account

Step 3: If you’d like to preserve any information from your account, request a Data Download. This can take up to one week to get (typically provided within 48 hours).

Step 4: On the date of close:

Step 5: Set a reminder in 6 months to assess whether you want to permanently delete the page

  • If, at that point, you feel confident about the new direction and means of communicating without the social account, delete the account. If you still have reservations, take another 6 months and decide then
  • If you’re not in need of the account after a year, it’s probably safe to remove.

Step 1: Make sure you meet LinkedIn’s criteria to have your page deactivated

  • If needed, make the necessary adjustments

Step 2: If you’d like to preserve any information from your account, export the page analytics.

Step 3: On the date of close, permanently deactivate the page.

 

Step 1: Consider changing the email address associated with the account to an email address that you do NOT plan to utilize for a future/new X/Twitter account, as it will continue to be linked to that email after it’s deactivated

Step 2: Save your account credentials, including the updated email address, in a shared location (e.g. Box) so your department/unit has a record of it for the next 30 days (this is how long it will take for the page to be permanently deleted)

Step 3: If you’d like to preserve any information from your account, follow the instructions below to download your account content or analytics. This can take up to one week to get  (typically provided within 48 hours):

Step 4: On the date of close, choose one of the following options:

  1. Deactivate your account
    • The account will no longer be visible on X/Twitter, although X/Twitter will not permanently delete the account for 30 days from the date the deactivation request. 
    • Be sure to log out of all devices.
  2. If you wish to retain access to the account OR retain ownership of the username (@handle), you can instead make the account private (rather than permanently deleting it) by following the steps below:
    • Update your settings to protect your tweets. This will limit visibility of your account to your followers only.
    • To ensure that no one can see the account's past activity, you will have to manually remove each follower.

Additional Sources to Update

In addition to closing the accounts, be sure to remove or update references to the social account from other sources, including:

  • Social buttons or feeds on your website(s)
    • Tip: Use Siteimprove to search for references on your pages
  • Email templates
  • Social media directories
  • Printed materials

Be sure to also log out of all devices.

Finally, notify your Unit Social Media Lead and University Communications that the account(s) has/have been closed to ensure all directories and listservs are up to date