I joined Twitter a few weeks ago and used the name TheFrugalist1. I first searched @aaronrobb, since I really like using my own name, but it was taken. Since I’m a couple years behind on joining, I would have no problem if my name was taken, its understandable. The issue I had was that it was taken but never used. Not one Tweet.
So I started researching how to get that name. First I thought I’d contact the guy who grabbed it, but there was zero info on his Twitter account. So I added him to the people I follow in hopes he’d get an email and add me so I can Direct Message him. (The only way to DM a person is for them to follow you. It helps keep spam to a minimum. Smart, but very annoying at this point). So as of yet there is no response from him, meaning either he doesn’t care, doesn’t get an email sent when a follower adds him, or he’s dead.
My next attempt was to do a ‘reply’ to him. This is when you start a Twitter update with ‘@username’, so in my case, I put ‘@aaronrobb’ and: ‘please message me’, in an effort to get his attention. Still nothing. I’m leaning towards he doesn’t really exist.
The final step is to contact Twitter support and get the username freed up. I found a post on how to get Twitter’s help to get unused usernames, where you send an email to username@twitter.com. Here is the response I got from them:
Twitter is currently only releasing inactive or suspended usernames in cases of trademark infringement. We do plan on bulk releasing all inactive or suspended usernames at some time in the future, but do not yet have a set timeframe for doing so. We appreciate your patience.
Now all I can do is wait. I’m hoping that sometime soon the user will contact me, but that is just a hope. I think I’ll have more luck with Twitter releasing the name, but the problem there is I’ll have to check back every day to get it. You can also go to the twitter support contact page here, but i got the same message as when emailing them.
I’ll be posting part 2 when I get an update. Stay tuned!
Related posts:
Twitter Updates
Part 2?
No need to check back every day. Here are two tools I found that will alert you when your chosen username is freed up.
http://tweetclaims.com
http://twittercounter.com/pages/username_alert
D.A.
D.A.
Great resources! I’m signed up!
As for a part two of this post, I’ve still not heard from Twitter or the account using my preferred name. It is kind of annoying to wait, but I can imagine Twitter gets many requests each second for this, so I’m sure its backlogged. I will post again if I hear anything!