As someone famous once said, fame is fleeting, but the internet is forever. This is just as true for businesses: employees come and go, as such is the nature of business, but their social media profiles? Another story entirely. So how can you deal with a defunct employee profile that is still affiliated with your business?
Reach out to your former employee to have them alter or delete the account. Most employees are receptive to this approach and are willing to oblige or provide the login credentials to your marketing team.
Do a request-password retrieval on the account. The employee likely used his/her work email address to register the account, and your IT department can work on retrieving it from there. However, if that address is inactive, just make sure your company has a "catch-all" address for your domain.
If all else fails, you can contact the social media platform directly to see if you can have an account removed. Each platform has different steps, some outlined below.
Visit the Twitter Help Center to see if the platform can deactivate the account for you. You will need to provide evidence that the account is currently using your company trademark without permission. You will also need to provide information about the trademark holder (i.e. your company).
Visit the Facebook Help Center and follow the steps to report a Facebook profile. In the feedback section of the report, be sure to state the situation and provide any information tied to your company’s trademarks or copyrights.
Visit the Instagram Help Center and follow the steps to report a Instagram username that is violating your company trademark. In the feedback section of the report, be sure to state the situation and provide any information tied to your company’s trademark.
Check out our article on Who Owns a Social Media Account for more on this topic!