Social Media: How to Take Control
By Áine McCormack, M.A.
Social media platforms may try to force our lives around like a playground bully, but there are times when you may want to take back control and perhaps delete social media accounts. Whether you may miss the days of anonymity, or you might want to reclaim your privacy from companies, or the account is dated, or maybe you simply aren’t interested anymore, there are many reasons why people would choose to delete their accounts.
But what if you no longer have access to the credentials you used to create the account? Or what if you are responsible for removing the profile for a family member who has passed on? These very common what-ifs could present obstacles.
A majority of social media networks have steps in place to remove profiles. Áine McCormack is Hg’s in-house specialist on access-gaining requests. In this five-part blog series, she helps readers gain access to five social media platforms: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. This week we tackle MySpace.
MySpace
Deleting your MySpace profile is simple—as long as you have access to the account. If you have account access, you can delete the profile with a few clicks of a mouse. If you cannot access the account, you can still delete the profile. If you do not have access to the original-registered email, and you do not remember the account’s password, you will need to create a MySpace Salute in order to cancel the account.
Write the MySpace profile URL on a sheet of paper, then take a photo of yourself displaying that sheet of paper. Then go to the MySpace website to contact the company through its Help page using an email address you have access to. Select Your Account as the category, and then select Delete Profile as the subcategory. In your message explain that you want this profile deleted but you do not have access to the MySpace registered email or do not know the account password. Then attach the image of yourself holding the paper with the profile URL written on it. After you’ve sent the email, a MySpace representative should send a reply email to you within a few days, confirming that the account has been deleted. The representative may require additional information.
For closing the MySpace account of someone who has passed away but for whose account you do not have access, only the next of kin can make a request for the profile to be removed. Send an email to accountcare@support.myspace.com stating your relationship to the deceased individual and include the obituary or the death certificate plus the MySpace profile URL. MySpace should either remove or preserve the profile depending on the request.
Check back next week when we review the process of removing yourself from Facebook.
Are you an analyst or investigator looking for advanced training on the latest protocols to spotlight the brightest and best in social media monitoring for protective intelligence? If so, check out Hg’s webinar series, where you can attend live sessions and receive CEUs or watch previously recorded sessions to beef up your OSINT & SOCMINT skills.
Are you looking for an investigative team to help you unearth information on a potential business partner? Acquisition? Hetherington Group leads in online and social media investigations, having trained over 180,000 corporate security professionals, attorneys, accountants, auditors, military intelligence professionals, and federal, state, and local agencies in Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT). Our skilled analysts excel at exposing financial risks, reputational issues, criminal activity, and legal actions detrimental to your personal and business stability. Learn how our team can arm you with the data you need.
Áine McCormack, MA joined Hetherington Group in 2017 as an Investigative Analyst and Case Manager. With her keen ability to understand and summarize large amounts of information in a concise manner, she communicates to our clients exactly what they need to know, when they need to know it. Her primary tasks involve specialist desktop research and analyses of public record and open source information in support of business due diligence and other investigative projects.
