@pixelfed@mastodon.social Honestly, that seems like enough, but maybe an extra popup with a big ol warning sign and bright red text saying "Are you absolutely sure? This CANNOT BE UNDONE. There is no going back" with the confirm button having a label like "Yes, I fully understand that this is the end of my account", and you have to hold down the button for 3 seconds

@pixelfed Perhaps directly offer a download of your archive at the time of deletion?

@pixelfed perhaps an option to download an archive of the account and a way to restore it to a new account later? Don't know how feasible that is though, would certainly mess with timelines and replies.

@pixelfed perhaps add a left-most button of "temporarily disable my account” instead of only one CTA

@pixelfed I don't know, man...can't fix stupid.

I think what's in place is more than elegant enough.

@pixelfed i've seen other services do stuff like "to confirm, write the text PERMANENTLY DELETE in the textbox below" before making the button clickable.

@pixelfed Could a queue system work? Disable the account, put it in a queue for X days, then process the full removal?

@pixelfed

Any options to export their data to an archive so they are least have that for the future? 🫤🤷‍♂️

@pixelfed
I’d say the current version is pretty self explanatory.
But maybe add a second confirmation screen that says something like….
We’re not Meta.
When we say this is instant and irreversible, we really mean it.
Are you sure you want to do this?

@pixelfed Perhaps the “Temporarily Disable” needs be higlighted more with a button rather than a link.

@pixelfed maybe add a button next to the “permanently delete” one to redirect to the “temporarily suspend” to remind people this option also exists?
I know it is already said above, but I fear a lot of people don’t read all the text and simply check the box and click the red button.

@pixelfed Does it immediately perform the account deletion? I would consider having it be queued for deletion, maybe after 7 days, and send the user an email after "request account deletion" (instead of immediate deletion) as well as one day beforehand.

Basically "hey if you change your mind or think this is a mistake, click here to cancel your account deletion".

@pixelfed maybe have people type in the name of their account one last time, instead of just requiring a button click? i think that would require a little bit more attention in case they just skip the warning text.

@pixelfed I like the github approach.

Let them type out "I am sure I want to delete my account" or something shorter.

@pixelfed I saw in a few applications that is required to type a particular word or phrase to perform that kind of actions.
Something like keeping the "Delete account" action disabled until the user, after being prompted, manually enters the phrase "Irreversibly delete my account and content forever". Or a neardy alternative "Throw all my photos and videos into the depths of Mount Doom"

@pixelfed

(Note: I'm not familiar on how other social networks do that)

My guess:

- Disable for a short period of time (like 1 week) and then actually delete.

- Warn about this behavior, and add an option to delete data immediately.

- I suppose this is already being done, but make sure it's the actual owner of the account who is doing this

[1/2]

@pixelfed when a user deletes their account, don’t actually delete it for 30 days. During those 30 days, the account is deactivated — appearing as deleted for all intents and purposes.

If the user logs in during that 30 day window, reactivate the account.

Continue to offer the option to delete immediately but make it difficult to find.

@pixelfed “Please type ‘yes I am aware this is irreversible’ to continue.”

But also make sure it’s something that can’t be copied and pasted.

@pixelfed Having non-native speakers in mind, rephrasing with "easier" words could help, e.g.: "I understand that my Pixelfed account, its photos and messages will be deleted forever, and that nobody can bring them back."

@pixelfed I think people are just used to the idea that telling a company "Delete My Data" is more a gentle suggestion than a request.

Everyone kinda knows that "Delete" just means, "I know you're going to keep my data and use it for whatever, but you're going to hide it from me and prevent me from logging into this account."

@pixelfed I mean, is there a polite way of asking those people what part of "permanent deletion" and "not reversible" they don't understand?

@pixelfed more Red… and some blinking :pensive_party_blob:

@pixelfed Another thought - if this turns out to be one of these "force of nature" situations where there's nothing to be gained from fighting it - how long do they go before doing this process and coming back to restore it? Maybe you could do a time bomb thing.

And maybe from there, see about making a "actually, delete this now!" button. So most people would just click "okay" instead. They'd have to go out of their way to "do it now". Maybe that won't work, but maybe worth a try?

@pixelfed Softdelete for 3 months, and also propose to migrate/send data somewhere else (or “send me a link to download my account archives ”)?

@pixelfed Requires a bit of work, but giving two clear, clean an unambiguous options might drive the point that deletion is final home. Something like:

[delete my account and make my user name available]

[delete my account and prevent users from creating an account with my user name]

(perhaps dumb example, but forcing a user to choose between options makes them consider the impact that each one has)

@pixelfed Offer them a pizza not to? I would stay for pizza.

@pixelfed make them type something, like GitHub does for deleting repos. Maybe also just mark as deleted and really delete it after 7days if it is not requested to be restored in that time

@pixelfed is the biggest complaint usernames? I'd love to be able to get mine back from when I was testing the waters

@pixelfed your best bet is to not delete it. Apple say that customers Apple ID will be deleted when they request it, but actually gives customers 30 days to cancel it. It’s a brilliant idea.

@pixelfed You shouldn’t change what you’ve got. It’s clear. Giving users the ability to permanently delete their account at will is a good feature, it means the data belongs to the users and you respect that.

@pixelfed Ask for password.

@pixelfed the idea of a 30 days cool-down period is the best approach in my opinion.

It’s allows to protect the user against him/her-self, or maybe a bad actor who might want to delete someone’s else account.

@pixelfed With a grace period?

"Your account will be deleted in 30 days, unless you reactivate it in the meantime"

@pixelfed Have a data retention-then-deletion policy of 30 days. This can be reflected in the database with a flag ‘pendingDeletionSince’ with either a null or a datetime in it. Then a daily cron can delete accounts marked for deletion more than 30 days ago. A very different story is how to make those accounts contents not visible while they are awaiting deletion… need to do some magic on the feed mixer and search service that check for this parameter presence

@pixelfed

> You don't want to change what you have. That's understandable. Giving users the ability to delete their account at will is a good feature, it means the data belongs to the users and you respect that.

I think a full data backup feature would be very useful. With all photos, comments, subscriptions and subscribers. And when deleting an account, ask the user three times if they are sure they don't want a full backup of their data before delete account.

@pixelfed i would suggest a 30 day deactivation period before deletion. enough time to people just change their minds

@pixelfed reason why another account with the previous username on the same instance can not be created. Why is it, that another account can't be created?

@pixelfed this is an interesting social rather than technological problem.

People got so used to services that retain their information, even when asked to delete it, that they get confused when they use a service that actually does what they asked. "Wait, what? I asked you to delete my data and you ACTUALLY deleted it? I'm confused now"

@pixelfed Everything in the photo seems outlined clearly and I wouldn’t change anything. Maybe a consideration for people who are dyslexic or otherwise text-impaired, like a graphic showing permanent deletion. Perhaps a link on the word “instance” that defines it for people not familiar with the Fediverse. Otherwise, people need to take responsibility for their own actions…as always.

Never delete accounts permanently AND instantly. When a user requests an account deletion, first hide the account from public but have a period of at least several days when they can log into it and cancel the deletion and reinstate their account. Only actually irreversibly delete stuff from the database when that period has expired.

@pixelfed Make people write a 1000 word essay of how it came to be that they need to resurrect the deleted account before resurrecting?

@pixelfed offer to download their data before and block the account deletion for a while if they wanted their data first (while disabling the account in the meantime)

@pixelfed 1. Have a really big in your face message with "ALL YOUR DATA WILL HE DELETED. THIS CAN NOT HE UNDONE"
2. Have them type that phrase before you can confirm deletion.
3. Have an option to delay deletion my 30 days or whatever in case you change your mind.
4. Have an option right there to download everything first.