Social Marketing - My Space, Facebook, etc. and mirco-blogging – Twitter are very popular not only as a personal means of communicating with family and friends, but also as a means to get your business out there. However, they are not without some snags.
Facebook recently was in the news for changing default settings making some private information available. And, you may run into a snag with Twitter concerning inactive accounts – yours or someone else’s that has the username you want.
This situation was addressed in the most recent monthly issue of Search Engine News. I’ve place the Q & A below for those that may find themselves in a similar situation.
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Question:I attempted to set up a Twitter account for my business and my chosen username was taken. When I visited the account it appeared to be inactive. Is there any way I can get Twitter to release that account to me?
Answer: Unfortunately, there isn’t a straightforward way to get Twitter to release an inactive account, but there are a few different methods you can use to varying degrees of success.
Twitter will not release inactive accounts unless the account has terms of service violations or has been out of use for about nine months (and even that’s on a case-by-case basis). Terms of Service violations can include brand violations, breaches of privacy, harassment, impersonation, name squatting, pornographic content and promotion of illegal activities. If you notice the account in question is participating in these activities, you can send a direct email with the username to terms@twitter.com.
If the account has been inactive for a while, it may become available soon. Accounts that are legitimate but have just been abandoned can’t be released on an individual basis but they are culled by Twitter from time to time. Clearly, waiting around and hoping that the user will release the account isn’t an ideal option. To that end, here are some suggested proactive steps you can take to speed along the process.
1. Get in touch with the user via an @reply. Start your quest by following the user and then sending them an @reply. They will be notified of the reply if they have the “notification of new follows” option activated. Since this option is the default option, they will probably get notified and get in touch. This may not always work, but it’s a good starting point.
2. Check out the user bio. Some inactive accounts may not have a user bio, but for those that do you can find their Web site and contact them through that channel. Visit their URL and use their contact information to inquire about the Twitter username.
3. Leverage your Twitter follower list. Ask your current followers who owns the account. It’s worth a shot, especially if the account was once active and no longer is. Ask for retweets on the request.
4. Search for the domain. If your desired username is different from your URL, you can search for the domain Username.com (replace Username with the actual username you are looking up) to try to contact the user. Many Web site owners register a Twitter username based on a URL and then don’t develop either one.
Once you find the updated contact information, drop a line and explain that you’d like to use the Twitter name. Add a link to your site to show the relevance and note that you’ve noticed they haven’t used the account in X months. They may willingly give up the username or want to make some sort of trade. It’s up to you as to how much a Twitter username is worth to you. Trading a service or spending $20 to secure the name should be considered money well invested.
- Casey Markee, Writer & Lead SEO Consultant, Planet Ocean
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Every month Planet Ocean addresses a miriad of different topics relating to ….
- Search Engines
- Social Marketing
- On Line Business
- Internet Marketing
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