I love Twitter and I have been a regular user for almost 1 and a 1/2 years now.
Well yeah, I was a little late to the party and couldn’t get my first name as the ID. Hence, I chose a very safe and reliable option which was @aristobhupal [my first & last name]
Life was all smooth and I was having my share of fun by following some really awesome folks. Then suddenly earlier this year I came across a few articles ( this, this and this) that Twitter land rush could be on in sometime where Twitter will release the old twitter IDs which are inactive (major criteria being no activity since past 6 months).
So I waited – checking up twitter updates and other social media news sites that the day must be coming near when i would be able to claim my first name.
Nothing turned up so I decided to write to Twitter to get my own ID and these are the steps I followed and they worked just fine for me.
Step 1 : Check twitter for its inactive user policy so that you can be sure you meet their criteria.
Step 2 : Once you are sure that the twitter ID you want is inactive. You can raise a ticket (Make sure you choose ‘inactive username’ in the dropdown column with the name ‘regarding’)
Step 3 : Twitter sends an automated response – (Please find below the response from twitter)
———-
Hello,
This is an automated confirmation that we’ve received your ticket. Twitter is only transferring usernames according to our trademark policies. If you are a trademark holder, please be sure to read this entire email; you will need to take further action in order to reopen your ticket.
Otherwise, we will not be able to transfer the username. In general, adding numbers, underscores, or abbreviations can help you claim a great username.
If you are a trademark holder requesting a trademarked name from a potentially inactive account, please reply to this email with the following information:
Username of the reported account (e.g. @safety or http://www.twitter.com/safety):
Your company name:
Your company Twitter account (if there is one):
Your company website:
Your trademarked word, symbol, etc. (e.g. Twitter):
Your trademark registration number:
Trademark registration office (e.g. USPTO):
Description of alleged violation (e.g., passing off as your company, including specific descriptions of content or behavior):
Your first and last name:
Title:
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Email (must be from company domain):
Requested Action (for example, removal of infringing account, or transfer of trademarked username to an existing company account):
We are working to bulk release all inactive usernames, but we don’t have a set time frame for doing so. Currently, our system can check to see if an individual username can be returned to general circulation due to inactivity. Please note that you may not be able to tell whether an account is currently inactive, as not all signs of account activity are publicly visible.
If you’d like to trigger a review of the reported username, please reply with just the username. Please note that in this case, the reported username will not be directly transferred, but will instead be immediately made available for use by any Twitter user.
Thanks,
Twitter Trust & Safety
———-
Step 4 : Respond back to the automated email by sending the twitter ID you would want freed.
Step 5 : Once twitter establishes that the username you want is inactive and can be released – they send you back an email [Email attached below]
———-
Hello,
The reported account has been removed due to inactivity and the username is now available for use. If you have an existing account, you can select this username for your account from your Account Settings page. If you would like to select this username for a new account, you can sign up at https://twitter.com/signup. Please note that usernames are available on a first-come, first-served basis and this username is now available for use in general circulation and may be acquired by another user.
Here are a few additional things to keep in mind:
• If you register a username that uses another entity’s trademark, the trademark holder may be able to reclaim the username. Twitter’s Trademark Policy is available at http://help.twitter.com/entries/18367
• Our Inactive Accounts Policy is available at http://help.twitter.com/entries/15362
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Lukester
Step 6 : You can check your status of the ticket Twitter Ticket
Step 7 : As soon as you get the email from Twitter -> Login to your twitter account -> Go to Settings->Make changes to username & Save [This needs to be done as twitter does not allocate you the username but makes it available to anyone who would like to take it – so you need to hurry up!.
Do let me know if these steps work well for you too…
About Aristo Bhupal