How To Delete Duplicate Social Networking Accounts Properly
Several people have asked Out-Smarts lately what they should do about duplicate social networking profiles. It is normal for people to set up a social networking presence and to forget about it only to revisit at a later date and set up another. This can be true for personal profiles as well as business pages and can be damaging because it confuses those who search for you in these forums. Here is what to do about it.
Determine if you have a duplicate account
To determine whether you have duplicate accounts, simply sign in to the network in question and do a search for your name or company. If more than one result hits the target then you know you have gone a page to far!
Don’t loose out
All of these tools have capabilities that allow you to delete such accounts but before you do you should follow a couple of steps to make sure you don’t loose out:
1.Make a list of your connections on the account you plan to delete and identify those you want to transfer over to your main account,
2.From your main account, send an invite to those connections identified in step one.
We recently asked this question on LinkedIn answers which is a very handy tool for finding answers to questions quickly (but that is another blog post entirely). Thanks to all of those who answered – you can see the responses here. We liked the following response by Frank Feather the best as it is simple to follow. Thanks Frank!
Dealing With Duplicate Profile on LinkedIn.
Each profile is associated with a different e-mail account.
1. If you know the email (but not the Password) of the account you wish to close, try to log in and then click “Forgot
Password”.
2. If you do not know the Password, then you need to write to CustomerService@LinkedIn.com or go to the Customer Service link (bottom of page) and fill out the appropriate email form.
3. If you know both the email and the Password, read on …
Unfortunately, you are not able to merge profiles.
Please follow this step-by-step process.
Decide which account/profile you wish to Close out.
Log out.
Log into that account with its email and password.
Export or make a note of any Connections you wish to keep. (Export link at bottom of list of Connections)
Go to “Settings” (top right, next to Help)
Close the account.
Log out.
Log in to your remaining account.
“Import” any Connections from closed account.
Re-send invites, with explanatory note.
Go to “Settings”
Add any additional email addresses you wish
Designate one as primary/default.
Better not to pick work email in case you quit.
Then you won’t again accidentally create new profile.
Out-Smarts Services
Out-Smarts provides social networking training and consulting services to help you use social media tools effectively. Contact us now to find out more.
