Yes. It's part of ESTA. I did not fill my social media accounts in - because I don't have any - when made an application, and to my surprise it was approved. Still a question of whether I get to enter the US next week, though.
Travelers from many countries require a visa to visit the United States for any purpose.
Travelers from 38 countries can visit the United States for a variety of purposes (including tourism and business) without a visa, under the Visa Waiver Program.
ESTA -- Electronic System for Travel Authorization -- is part of the Visa Waiver Program, and is an online form to help determine eligibility for visa-free travel. Using ESTA to determine eligibility in advance is required for arrival by air or sea.
The linked article is concerned with visa applications. Travelers using ESTA/Visa Waiver Program are not applying for visas. So what is described in the linked article is not something that applies to ESTA, and ESTA questionnaires are not what are being described here. While ESTA may use similar questions, this is not the same as a visa application.
Also, if you click through to the actual linked article or its Reuters source, you'll find that the HN headline is incredibly misleading. The headline implies that all visa applicants will be required to provide this information, but the articles say the information is voluntary and describe it by saying "consular officials can" request the information at their discretion.
HN is not one of the sites listed. Although, you could select 'other', but I did not consider HN social media. Maybe my definition of 'social media' is a lot narrower than the US government's. I mean, does being a member of a classic bulletin board count?
I renewed my ESTA back in February, then they had a section with social media accounts but it explicitly said that filling that section out was voluntary.
