Can an inactive Twitter page/username be removed by request? Or even a request be sent to the current inactive owner?

Or submit the request through http://twitter.com/help ( Delete or Edit)

I'm looking for the username "shiva" (see my other comment below). The account has been inactive for over a year now, and yet the account remains. I'm trying to re-brand myself across web2.0 tools and would love that name. Plz Plz do something. ( Delete or Edit)

Hi, there's a username: Rilee thathaven't update for over 9 month, will you release it? ( Delete or Edit)

Rilee, plus submit a help ticket at http://twitter.com/help to ask for the name. ( Delete or Edit)

how long have people had to wait for the username they wanted to be freed up? ( Delete or Edit)

Well, the account was inactive for about 9 months.. and about 15 days after I posted my second comment in this thread, I got my account!! I must also say, that I was pretty active on twitter. ( Delete or Edit)

@shiva -- that's good to hear and thanks for the reply. when you say you got your account, what do you mean by that, exactly? did your current account just change usernames automatically, did you just find the old account was deleted and you changed your name, did you find the old account to be deleted and you just signed up as it; what happened?

the one i am seeking hasn't posted in over a year. ( Delete or Edit)

well, they replaced my username, which means that all the previous username's @replies, were not accessible. ( Delete or Edit)

Hi, there's a username "Tommy" that haven't update for over 9 month. I would like to use it. Could you please release it ? ( Delete or Edit)

Hi Tom. You'll need to submit a request through http://twitter.com/help or send an email request to support AT twitter DOT com ( Delete or Edit)

Hi Crystal my request number is : "330807" can you please look at it? - I've awaited reply from Twitter support for a month. ( Delete or Edit)

Hi Crystal, So how do we know how many months are left in inactivity? Ticket #109552 ( Delete or Edit)

I have a client who is a prime candidate for a name request yet his tickets go deleted. The owner of the name tweeted 3 times in March to test his new IPhone and that's it. He hasn't done anything with the account 10 months and it just happens to be the name of a new Twitter Application that my clients company has spent a year developing. Now they will be trademarking the app name and could use some help getting this sorted out. We also tried sending to username@twitter.com which bounces undeliverable. Any help would be appreciated. ( Delete or Edit)

I have a client who is a prime candidate for a name request yet his tickets go deleted. The owner of the name tweeted 3 times in March to test his new IPhone and that's it. He hasn't done anything with the account 10 months and it just happens to be the name of a new Twitter Application that my clients company has spent a year developing. Now they will be trademarking the app name and could use some help getting this sorted out. We also tried sending to username@twitter.com which bounces undeliverable. Any help would be appreciated. ( Delete or Edit)

hey
i'd like to get username"rheza", my current account "rhezapahlevi"
let me know how to get it ?

thanks ( Delete or Edit)

shiva, you might be better off submitting a help request at http://twitter.com/help ( Delete or Edit)

Chuck - a help request will get this done. I obtained an inactive username within max. of 10 days from submitting a help request. ( Delete or Edit)

how long did it take for it to happen for you. also, what happened exactly? ( Delete or Edit)

Hi. Try submitting a support ticket to ask for the username at http://twitter.com/help ( Delete or Edit)

I just got an email from Twitter today saying they had received my request and I got a link to the support ticket. It took a few days to get to them I Guess. I was worried at first. I just updated that ticket, making note that for the username I want, the person still hasn't updated any information yet. ( Delete or Edit)

Ah! I didn't realize you had a password problem. I noticed from your reply above that you have already logged a ticket. That's the best course of action to take in cases like this. 8-) ( Delete or Edit)

I hate to tell you this but it's probably going to take longer than two weeks for your ticket to get a response! ( Delete or Edit)

313900 or 313807... just about the same. Thanks for your time. ( Delete or Edit)

Dear crystal, Mine ticket is 315969 and 310332(this didn't have any reply and has been removed), Thanks! ( Delete or Edit)

Mine is 315485. Its been only 10 days but I haven't heard a single word yet... Thanks. ( Delete or Edit)

Mine is 313339. Haven't heard anything on it. It was started August 12 2008, 04:48 PM, a few days after I first shot an email to Twitter. I did a follow up myself on it on August 13 2008, 05:28 AM, just giving an update that there was no activity yet for the username I was requesting. ( Delete or Edit)

@crystal you're awesome! I got the username I wanted. YouTube, are you learning? (http://getsatisfaction.com/twitter/to...)

Could I also check on one more name request I had done back in June (this is my personal one, the one you just helped me out with was for my site). I think I still have a few more months to go, but it would be nice to just get an update that I am in fact being considered for this username if this user continues to have no activity on this account? the request number is: 269062. I'm looking to know at what date I should reach out to Twitter to get this name (hopefully this user doesn't decide to start using before then!) ( Delete or Edit)

Hi crystal, any chance to get a follow up on my last comment? I just wanted to ask the status of one more request: 269062 ( Delete or Edit)

Hey crystal, I thought I'd ask about this again. We're almost at 9 months and it seems there are new terms, but since I asked so long ago, maybe we could make an exception? I did the e-mail to username@twitter.com - here's the request id: 10981. So far, mhegge has responded and told me about the new terms, but as I said to him, since I asked so long ago, maybe we could still go through changing my username? ( Delete or Edit)

Hey crystal, I thought I'd ask about this again. We're almost at 9 months and it seems there are new terms, but since I asked so long ago, maybe we could make an exception? I did the e-mail to username@twitter.com - here's the request id: 10981. So far, mhegge has responded and told me about the new terms, but as I said to him, since I asked so long ago, maybe we could still go through changing my username? ( Delete or Edit)

just got the email... i updated my ticket just now. thanks. hope to see what happens. ( Delete or Edit)

how much time does it take actually ? my ticket number is 321853.
thx ( Delete or Edit)

how much time does it take actually ? my ticket number is 321853.
thx ( Delete or Edit)

Crystal, I dunno how to send you an @reply on here......my ticket number is 318033. I hope you can help me ( Delete or Edit)

Hi Crystal, my ticket number is 320715. Thanks :) ( Delete or Edit)

Done Crystal :) Thanks. ( Delete or Edit)

Done Crystal :) Thanks. ( Delete or Edit)

Crystal Rocks! ( Delete or Edit)

Crystal, I sent you an @reply, but thought I'd mention my request here too (320430). The username I want only has 2 tweets total and the last one was over a year and a half ago. I opened a previous support request (access key 310855zhddgx), but it was closed without any response being sent to me. Thanks for your help! ( Delete or Edit)

Hello Crystal, hope you can help me too, im also not sure about how to send you an @reply but my ticket number is 330304. The username I want has not been updated in over 15 months and want to register it as a new account, Kind Regards. ( Delete or Edit)

In your shoes I would go ahead and create a new account that uses your old account's name. If someone else wants it, they can always request it through Twitter Support. ( Delete or Edit)

Excellent, please do share with them. Hopefully it's something you guys can implement one day. You said there's no way to do this, but it seems to me that the bug you fixed was doing just this so maybe that could just be controlled. Anyways, thank you for the response and thank you again for the username transfer. I rated you guys a 10 over here: http://getsatisfaction.com/companies. Well deserved. ( Delete or Edit)

Awesome Crystal thanks! ( Delete or Edit)

Thank you very much! ( Delete or Edit)

Thank you crystal! ( Delete or Edit)

Huzzah! Thank you, crystal. ( Delete or Edit)

My Ticketnumber is #2749 can anyone look into it? ( Delete or Edit)

My Ticketnumber is #2749 can anyone look into it? ( Delete or Edit)

Perfect-a-mundo. Many thanks Emee! ( Delete or Edit)

hans, as far as I know, support tickets are six digits, not 4 digits...? ( Delete or Edit)

nope, the ticketnumbers from username@twitter.com are 4 digits :-)

Hans_M did you already receive a reaction? ( Delete or Edit)

Oh, this is good to know. Thanks for the info! ( Delete or Edit)

I got mine... thanks to Twitter support. :) ( Delete or Edit)

Thanks Twitter! The name has been setup and we are good to go. ( Delete or Edit)

That's correct, they should put it in a queue instead of giving up immediately. I guess ZenDesk doesn't have a "postpone" option. That, or Twitter hasn't figured out how to use their help desk system (which is much more likely). ( Delete or Edit)

I guess you could check that account's existence (maybe) daily, to catch the day when Twitter eventually releases a bunch of inactive accounts which includes the one whose name you'd like.

Or you might possibly try to acquire the name on the basis of Terms of Service issues - though that's probably a very long shot... ( Delete or Edit)

A very nice person at twitter helped me out and switched my ID, but only because I had originally written in to ask so long ago. If you're asking now, don't get your hopes up. You rock, @delbius!!! ( Delete or Edit)

I had an old ticket too--how long ago is "so long ago"? My original request was Nov 12, 2008. (I know, not THAT long ago, but still under the old help system.) ( Delete or Edit)

I see, they've changed the rules privately but not publicly. That's nice. ( Delete or Edit)

I wouldn't say they changed the rules. Someone there took pity on me and grandfathered me in under the old rules because I asked before they took place. Jeeze, you guys sure can be exceptionally critical about a service for which you pay exactly nothing. There are real people behind this free service, not autonomous robots following a rule set. ( Delete or Edit)

There are real people behind the government, not autonomous robots following a rule set. Who cares if they use interrogation techniques beyond those permitted by the Army Field Manual? It they were robots following a "rule set", ok, but they're people, so the rules don't apply to them. ( Delete or Edit)

That's a juvenile straw man. I don't have a choice in my government (unless I leave for some other country), so of course we should speak up about it. We _are_ the government and the government is us, if you will. Twitter is provided as a free service, take it or leave it. Make suggestions, offer constructive criticism, but don't get your panties in a wad if they don't do something you want. Just go away if it bothers you that much. I'm done here, this conversation has gotten past the point where it really has a point. Have fun with the last word. ( Delete or Edit)

For a non juvenile strawman, see the topic about Ariel Waldman being harassed on Twitter and how she wanted them to obey their robotic "rule set" called the "terms of service" and get back to me. Or don't. ( Delete or Edit)

It looks like I was around a week too late to request my username changed to an inactive account's. I don't know why Twitter is being like this and not letting us get our desired names. ( Delete or Edit)

Read the other posts, they are no longer doing this. ( Delete or Edit)

That article you link to severely lacks details. Maybe the request was old enough to have been grandfathered in? ( Delete or Edit)

ups:
Which answer induces which error?
If you can be more specific, I may be able to point you towards a more useful (and less antiquated) answer. ( Delete or Edit)

The "Best Answer" given by the official representative: http://getsatisfaction.com/twitter/to...

When following the instructions, there is a reply stating that they are no longer doing this. This was also commented in the latest posts. ( Delete or Edit)

BLARGHADARG THEY'RE NOT ROBOTS FOLLOWING "RULES" THEY'RE HUMANS THE RULES DON'T APPLY TO THEM. - "scrooks" ( Delete or Edit)

Well, now. That's not exactly what I said, is it? I believe I said this:

"I wouldn't say they changed the rules. Someone there took pity on me and grandfathered me in under the old rules because I asked before they took place. Jeeze, you guys sure can be exceptionally critical about a service for which you pay exactly nothing. There are real people behind this free service, not autonomous robots following a rule set."

Meaning someone decided to be kind to me and grandfather me in. Kindness is a very human quality.

I think what you're really upset about is that "the kid who owns the ball gets to make the rules". :-) But you can always choose not to play with that kid.... ( Delete or Edit)

Look, I know this is a REALLY long thread, and it took quite a while to load for me, but the reply box is JUST underneath the most recent reply (and it's comments) which indicates that they are NO LONGER DOING THIS.

For the next person to reply

HEY, LOOK HERE. LOOK. LOOK HERE. THEY AREN'T DOING IT ANYMORE. ( Delete or Edit)

Well apparently if you get a trademark, then they'll give you the name according to the third tweet mdy posted. ( Delete or Edit)

Well, if the username is important to you, you might have it trademarked, and if that's the case, then you can indeed get the name. If not, you're just whiny. It's like whining about not being able to get twitter.com/x (not variable, just the letter x). ( Delete or Edit)

I think you've misunderstood how Gmail's username system works. While you are correct that periods are "allowed" in usernames, they're purely decorative. That is to say, messages sent to johndoe@gmail.com, john.doe@gmail.com, and j.o.h.n.d.o.e@gmail.com will all point to the same inbox. ( Delete or Edit)

I think you've misunderstood how Gmail's username system works. While you are correct that periods are "allowed" in usernames, they're purely decorative. That is to say, messages sent to johndoe@gmail.com, john.doe@gmail.com, and j.o.h.n.d.o.e@gmail.com will all point to the same inbox. ( Delete or Edit)

I understand EXACTLY how Gmail's naming system works...and it's one of the most retarded things I've ever encountered. They shouldn't even include periods because they are useless. At least in Yahoo and Live there's a difference between john.doe@... and johndoe@... These "rules" Gmail, Hotmail & Yahoo created for their naming systems also are completely their call --- the first part of all email addresses can technically be (and are by default) case-sensitive (though most Mail providers disable this) and support a variety of symbols (like &) in addition to normal alpha-numeric characters. Gmail's naming system punishes people who didn't sign up for the earliest of Beta things. Go over to Picasa or even their web site creation area and try to use "JohnDoe"...even if a name isn't being used, you can't claim it as your own if you weren't the person who got "johndoe@gmail.com" originally...seriously, wtf? ( Delete or Edit)

I don't think there's a difference between john.doe and johndoe on Yahoo, but there is between johndoe and john_doe. I'll have to look into it. ( Delete or Edit)

Yes, the inability to get the name you want without adding numbers has totally destroyed AOL Instant Messenger, nobody uses it! ( Delete or Edit)

I think you are putting your own desires here over what is the real reality. The younger the user is, the less chance they give a hoot about their user name. Watch someone less than 18 (25?) set up a new account on a web service, and you'll see that their _first_ attempt will be something wacky with numbers in it. They don't care about getting twitter.com/johndoe, they'd rather have twitter.com/snckwit778. And they're certainly not going to think it's an inferior service because of it. As Thomas commented, see AOL. It's thriving and there certainly aren't any "good" names left there.

There's no way to offer everyone a user name that is a direct reflection on their real name, or even some other desired name. That's just the way it is when you have millions of users. The people who have been using the Internet all their young life don't even think about it, they just naturally deal with it. We older people need to learn to adapt. If you're not fast enough with a service to snag the name you really want, move on and snag some other name and get over it.

People will not move away from a social service like twitter just because they couldn't get the handle they wanted. Very few care about such things. People will only move away when there's another service that is an order of magnitude better and has been around long enough to get social momentum going.

Gmail grew quickly because it offered what seemed like unlimited storage at the time when Hotmail and Yahoo had relatively very small limits. That and the fact that Google itself was (and is) a hot property.

[Note that the issue of _abandoned_ names on Twitter being released for reuse is a totally different topic and I'm not commenting on that.] ( Delete or Edit)

I was wondering the same thing... I feel like I can't get ahold of her to answer any of my questions. ( Delete or Edit)

I was wondering the same thing... I feel like I can't get ahold of her to answer any of my questions. ( Delete or Edit)

I added a web clipping of the username I want's page to my OS X dashboard, so every time I open the dashboard, if it looks the same (blank user picture and username) I know there's been no change. The instant I see something different pop up I'll jump. ( Delete or Edit)

Hehe. Good strategy. ;) Though it doesn't really help with actually recovering the username. ( Delete or Edit)

I havent asked yet but as i can see many ppl have so i dont think its worth trying. I read somewhere that the release date for names was like..6 months. Now its 9 months?! Must have mis-read, but it still sucks because for one name im waiting for, its been already that long. Ugh. ( Delete or Edit)

Part of the response from Twitter:

Twitter is not currently releasing inactive user names. We're working on a better long term solution for this, and we should have more news soon. ...

If your user name request concerns impersonation, trademark infringement, brand squatting, copyright, or another Terms of Service violation, please submit a request to the Terms of Service group ...

Looks like we're out of luck for now. I'm not sure what sort of 'better long term solution' they could have, nor when 'soon' will be. Oh well. ( Delete or Edit)

I hope this works and that it wasn't a mistake to start with a more cordial email before I read this. ( Delete or Edit)

"All these people" posted to that page in January, nearly a year ago, when Twitter was still releasing unused names. They stopped releasing names about mid-way through 2009, so go be slackjawed elsewhere. ( Delete or Edit)

"All these people" posted to that page in January, nearly a year ago, when Twitter was still releasing unused names. They stopped releasing names about mid-way through 2009, so go be slackjawed elsewhere. ( Delete or Edit)

"All these people" posted to that page in January, nearly a year ago, when Twitter was still releasing unused names. They stopped releasing names about mid-way through 2009, so go be slackjawed elsewhere. ( Delete or Edit)

Sorry, I realized that after posting and forgot to come back and delete this. Someone had just tweeted that link as if it was a "hot tip" and I was too flustered to check the date. ( Delete or Edit)