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Redact: Clean Up Your Social Media and Most Used Accounts

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Wishing you could start anew with social media? If you are, you’re not alone. 45% of respondents to a survey shared they were sanitizing their feeds. Let’s look at a few of my favorite tools, and I’ll share some of my experiences.

Why Clean Up Your Social Media?

People have lots of reasons for removing content from social media. Whatever the reason, many agree— it may be time to clean house. Here are some common reasons why people do decide to clean up social media accounts:

  • Protect their personal reputation
  • Get a handle on past oversharing
  • What you shared has gotten negative comments
  • The post didn’t get enough likes

Screenshot by the author | Statista (2018) Report Data

If you’ve ever tried to remove content from your social media account(s), you know it can be a long, arduous process. This is even more true when you want to clean up or remove posts without deleting your account. And even when you delete your account, how do you know for sure that the posts, images, and videos are gone?

Introducing Redact

Redact is a free tool that runs on your computer, making the job of removing content from social media easy.

Screenshot by the author

These days, someone is always trying to clean up one of their 40+ services used, like Discord, Reddit, Facebook, X, and more. Redact can help with that. Some of the things it offers for free include:

  • Mass delete from 40+ websites and apps.
  • Mass delete messages, posts, direct messages, files, images, and more.
  • Schedule automatic bulk deletions.
  • Smart delete by keyword, content type, and more!

Services it can help you cleanse include (but are not limited to):

  • Blogger
  • Discord
  • Disqus
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • Skype
  • Slack
  • Spotify
  • Teams
  • Telegram
  • TikTok
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • Yelp
  • YouTube

Whew! Those are only a few of the ones I have used. Want to see what else Redact can clean up? Explore the complete list when you start Redact on your computer.

Can You Trust Redact?

One question that you should always ask is, “Can this steal my login credentials and use them for ill?” The answer is that Redact doesn’t store any data or run on a server in the cloud.

You save the software to your own computer, then run it. It will work through your web services (which you log in to) and remove posts. What’s more, Redact works as if you were removing content personally. No one will see or know Redact was the tool you used to automate the repetitive process.

Screenshot by the author.

Cleaning Up Social Media

“Why is Miguel cleaning up his social media?” That’s a valid question. I haven’t posted any pictures or videos of me swinging a beer stein while wearing my TCEA badge. But you may recognize this fascinating AI-generated image of a top clergyman:

Worse, some companies are feeding AI image creators bucketloads of digital images. One easy place to find those? Your social media. What a way to bury the lead, right?

If you’re one of the billions of people who have posted pictures of themselves on social media over the past decade, it may be time to rethink that behavior. New AI image-generation technology allows anyone to save a handful of photos (or video frames) of you, then train AI to create realistic fake photos that show you doing embarrassing or illegal things (source).

One of the cool aspects of Redact? You can PREVIEW everything before you decide to delete it:

Screenshot by the author

Here are some screenshots featuring Redact making my social media inaccessible:

Screenshot by the author

Instagram

This experience worked quite well. At least until Instagram noticed Redact was doing something around 100 image deletions into its job. Then, it forced me to log in to the platform again. I had to enter confirmation codes sent to my phone and email to verify my identity. In a few moment’s time, Redact was back at work cleaning out my Instagram account.

Twitter

Deleting Twitter content was pretty easy. You also get a variety of options:

Screenshot by the author

And you can choose what you’d like to delete:

Screenshot by the author

As you can see from the options above, there’s a lot you can do with Redact.

Redact Your Social Media Presence

Stop the AI Overlords. Safeguard sensitive photos, videos, and images. Redact allows you to take control of your social media content and protect your privacy. Plus, it’s free for personal use, which is amazing given its capabilities. Give it a try!

Try Redact

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Digital Spring Cleaning Made Simple

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

As the end of the year comes up, you may be looking with trepidation at the folders and files on your device. What do you need to keep for the long run? What do you need to throw away or wipe in a secure manner to ensure no one can find it? Wait, what about those errant accounts you created in online ed tech spaces but no longer need? These can be tough questions. Let’s work our way through them.

Four Digital Cleaning Steps to Consider First

These days, digital spring cleaning seems easy. You can always take the easy way and do this:

  1. Dump all your files and folders into a 2022-2023 folder
  2. Move all your emails from your email inbox. I like to organize mine by year. Everything from 2022, goes in a 2022 folder. Everything from 2023, in a 2023 folder, etc.
  3. Delete videos and photos you don’t want to keep.
  4. Make a list of accounts you made with your email, then scroll to the bottom of each email and click “Unsubscribe.”

Will this process take time? Yes, it will. Consider getting rid of what you don’t need to keep. The problem is, sometimes everything seems worth keeping. So pretend you are going on a trip, and you can’t take everything. Keep only what you will need and dump the rest at Goodwill (or in this case, delete/wipe it).

File Management and Organization

Image of MuCommander File Management
MuCommander File Manager

Too many folders and files? Dealing with over twenty folders on your screen can be daunting. You may want to learn how to use a file manager (you can put it on your portable hard drive or flash drive). That way, it’s a tool you always have available. Tools include:

Both tools allow you to move files from one place to another (e.g. hard drive to USB portable hard drive). You get a bird’s eye view of your files, folders, and digital storage spaces. These file managers make it easy to copy, move, delete, and rename files and folders. Moving forward, take some time every day to sort and organize files and folders to make it easier at the year’s end.

Digital Backup Solutions

Have a lot of data stored in Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive, but you’re not sure how to move it? Let’s take a look at these different storage ecosystems one at a time.

Google Drive user? Use tools like Google Drive Cleaner to remove duplicate files. No need to backup duplicate files. Once cleaned out, you can try one of the following options depending on your needs:

Are you a Microsoft OneDrive user? You can simply download your OneDrive files and folders to your USB hard drive.

If neither of these approaches seems appealing, try CloudHQ.net and MultCloud. Each offers wizards, or help, to assist you in copying or moving data from one space to another. They do have trial plans, so you can use them and then leave them when done.

Wipe Sensitive Data, Don’t Just Delete It!

Safeguard sensitive data by wiping it in a secure manner. Do you really need to keep a copy of top secret student or staff information on your device? If no, then wipe it.

Wiping is different than deleting a file. The latter involves a process where you drag files/folders to a trash can or recycle bin. But all this does is hide the file. Bad actors can still recover it. They can use free tools like Disk Drill, Data Recovery, Recuva, and/or KA Undelete (recommended).

Wiping a file or folder makes it unrecoverable. On a Mac, choose to use a free tool such as Permanent Eraser. On Windows, you have a variety of options. Those options (my favorites have asterisks) include:

If your hard drive is a solid-state drive (SSD), recovery may still be possible, and these wipe tools may not work as well. For those hard drives, whole disk encryption is the preferred option.

Want to Learn More?

Not sure how to use these different tools? Sign up for the TCEA Cybersecurity for Educators: Data Guardian online, self-paced course. You’ll learn all about these tools and how to use them to safeguard sensitive data in your care.

Prevent Unauthorized Access, Encrypt It

Have sensitive data you have to share with others or keep for reference? Make sure to encrypt it and decrypt it when needed, then encrypt it again. In that way, you ensure your data will be inaccessible to strangers. My favorite file encryption tool is Keka or 7zip on Mac and Windows, respectively. For Chromebooks, I rely on FileLock.org.

Additional free encryption tools that work on Mac and Windows include:

Remember, a data breach is as simple as someone stealing a USB flash drive with sensitive data on it. And if it’s not encrypted, you must report it in most states.

Cleaning Digital Accounts

You may have signed up for a few dozen online accounts this past year. Each may still be generating emails and burying you in unwanted mail. One way to stop those emails is to unsubscribe from each. If your school or district relies on a service like Clever or Identity Automation, you may be stuck. It will determine what accounts you continue to have and need for your job.

If you signed up for demo accounts or email lists with your work email account, you may need to visit each account and delete it. This process varies by website, so take your time and do one per day.

More Tips for Digital Spring Cleaning

Want some more tips on digital cleaning? Here are some other TCEA blog entries that may provide more information:

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Google Tips and Tricks

How to Spring Clean Digitally

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

It’s a time-honored tradition. Spring presents the opportunity to recharge and reorient ourselves. Warmer weather, and a break from months indoors, means it’s always been a good time to do some organizing and cleaning. Indeed, in recent years, de-cluttering our spaces and lives has become a prominent trend.

And while dusting, boxing up coats and sweaters, and getting to work in our yards or gardens are the traditional meaning of “spring cleaning,” we can apply this to our digital lives as well. For educators, spring is a great time to clean up and reorganize our digital lives. Here are some tips to help you get started.

First Principles

It can be very beneficial to start with the right mindset. Here’s are the guiding princple’s TCEA’s own Lori Gracey discovered when applying Marie Kondo’s philosophy to the digital realm:

Principle 1: Tackle things by category, not by “room.” The key to this principle is to start with those items that have less emotional meaning as they are easier to do.

Principle 2: Make sure nothing can distract you while tidying. That means no listening to music, no checking your email or social media, no family or friends or pets helping you. 

Principle 3: Don’t relive the past. Be quick. Don’t take time for memories at this stage of the process.

Principle 4: Delight in the purge! I felt lighter as I saw the mass of my files becoming less and less. Cleaning up my digital life really did bring me joy!

Principle 5: Decide on an organization system that works for you. Consider how you think and then create a system so that you can easily find exactly the file or photo you are looking for.

Principle 6: Celebrate when you are done. I did that by creating a running slideshow of many of the photos that had been hidden for years so that I can now see them every day.

Lori Gracey. “Tidying Up Our Digital Lives“

Springing into Action

When it come to digital tools, different apps and resources might require different modes of cleaning and decluttering. Over the years, we’ve discovered some great tips to improve your spring cleaning process.

Digging into Your Inbox

Cleaning your inbox can leave you feeling like Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a mountain time and time again. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Check out these suggestions for decluttering your Gmail inbox from our Director of Professional Development, Dr. Bruce Ellis.

  • Method 1: Unsubscribe Link. This is the best way to unsubscribe, though it isn’t necessarily the fastest. 
  • Method 2: Use a Third-Party Tool to Declutter. Recently, I rediscovered Unroll.me. This free service will scan your email and pull up those that can be unsubscribed.
  • Method 3: Designate as Spam. Some emails you may receive do not have the unsubscribe link available. In this case, you may find it helpful to designate them as spam.
  • Method 4: Create Filters. In Gmail, I can create a filter that is triggered when an email arrives from someone on my “bad” list. Their sender email address and/or their subject line can trigger it, depending on how I set it up.

Cleaning Your Twitter Feed

Over time, following trends, friends, ed chats, and more can leave your feed looking overwhelmed. You may even be missing things in the fast-moving scroll of information. Here are some ideas from TCEA PD director Miguel Guhlin on how to keep your Twitter feed crisp and useful.

Beside tools that can help you unfollow accounts you’re no longer interested in, consider using Twitter’s list feature to keep things organized.

Google Beyond Gmail

Of course, Gmail is only one of many Google products. If you use other Google services, there are many useful ways to clean up your account.

To keep your Google account running smoothly and safely, it’s a good idea to do a regular audit of what apps and websites you’ve connected to over time. … But there are others that I may have signed up for originally, but no longer want, or don’t even know how I got signed up with them. For those instances, I want to take steps on a regular basis to clean out those unwanted services.

Lori Gracey. “Keeping Your Google Account Safe and Uncluttered“

Deep Cleaning

Check out our list of must-have tech tools, many of which can help you organize, streamline, and otherwise make your digital life easier.

What are your ideas and suggestions for digital spring cleaning? Share your shiniest ideas in the comments!

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

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