Delete Your Account

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About

"Delete Your Account" is an online slang expression commonly used as an insult by calling on an individual to voluntarily excommunicate him/herself from an online community or social networking site that requires membership registration. It can be seen as the online equivalent of other colloquial expressions like "kill yourself" and "go home."

Origin

The earliest known usage of the phrase as an insult towards someone on Twitter can be attributed to Darren Mckeeman, who tweeted at @xianvox saying that Myspace would be be a better place without her, on December 24th, 2008.

However, the expression didn't gain momentum until January 14th, 2015, when #deleteyouraccount became a globally trending topic for grievances about social media faux pas and attention-seeking behaviors on Twitter.

Spread

On August 28th, 2011, Tumblr user NewYorkCrisis posted an emoji-based Ask Blog survey that lists "delete your account" as one of the possible action commands, whch garnered more than 29,000 notes over the next five years. The original poster's account has been since deactivated. On November 21st, 2012, Redditor Late_Night_Grumbler commented "delete your account, problem solved" in replying to a /r/AskReddit post titled "If you could get rid of one (ONLY ONE) Internet Meme, which one would be."

Examples

New York Times Pea Guacamole Recipe

On July 1st, 2015, the New York Times tweeted a recipe article titled "Green Pea Guacamole" by food writer Melissa Clark, which was originally published two years prior. The tweet quickly went viral as the combination of the two was largely perceived as a strange or absurd idea. That same day, David Stroup responded to the original tweet with the phrase "delete your account."

Washington Redskins' Thanksgiving Tweet

On November 26th, 2015, Washington Redskins of the National Football League tweeted a holiday greeting card bearing its controversial team name and the Native American mascot in celebration of Thanksgiving Day. That same say, Twitter @Say_Janin responded to the NFL team's tweet with a photoshopped image of a clue from Jeopardy.

Edward Snowden's Tweet

On February 16th, 2016, Jeb Bush tweeted a picture of a monogrammed .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol that he received as a gift after a town hall meeting at FN America, the U.S. subsidiary of the Belgian firearms corporation, along with a one-word caption reading "America." In response to Jeb Bush's "America" gun tweet, American whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted "delete your account," accruing nearly 16,000 retweets and 25,000 likes.

Hillary Clinton's Tweet

On June 9th, 2016, Donald Trump, the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee tweeted a critical remark about President Barack Obama's endorsement of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee. In response, Hillary Clinton tersely tweeted back "delete your account." In less than six hours, Clinton's tweet garnered over 280,000 retweets and 328,000 likes, while #DeleteYourAccount quickly became a globally trending topic on Twitter.