A few weeks ago I was brainstorming a new Twitter username for myself.
If you follow me on Twitter, you probably already know that this quest lead to a dead end, as my handle hasn’t changed.
The biggest reason?
Lack of ideas? No. Lack of creativity? Maybe. The number of inactive, deadbeat Twitter handles? Yes.
It turns out, I’m not the only one who has found this to be true. I sent out this Tweet:
The number of good @Twitter handles that are not being used is crazy. Twitter needs some kind of expiration on dead accounts.
— Eric Dye (@DYECASTING) October 21, 2012
It didn’t take long and I had a number of responses echoing the same:
@DYECASTING @twitter completely agree. At least some process for requesting a dead account or something.
— Stephen Bateman (@IAmBateman) October 21, 2012
@IAmBateman @dyecasting @twitter just needs to be some way to gain a handle and not use it if you want to ensure no one misuses your brand
— Andy Darnell (@andydarnell) October 21, 2012
@andydarnell @IAmBateman @dyecasting @twitter I would love @bookwise but it has 15 or so tweets and hasn't been used for 3+ years
— Adam Shields (@adamrshields) October 21, 2012
Crazy, right?
What has your experience been?
I did a little Googling about the issue and pulled up a discussion on the Twitter Developers site where someone had come up with an idea for Twitter to auction-off these names and make a killing.
The replies went on and on.
The stories were all the same.
Inactive Twitter usernames are all over the place.
I’ve seen past statistics of Twitter use, and a good number of people who sign-up don’t stick with it or never return. Some of my Twitter username ideas were taken by people who had three tweets, two years ago and no followers.
Unless Twitter puts together some kind of expiration or retrieval process, the plight of deadbeat accounts is going to become a real problem.
Have you experienced this?
[Image via Bjarne Panduro Tveskov]
Josh Ferrara says
To be fair, though, it is hard to say what is truly a deadbeat user. Twitter has become a service where many people only consume content, and never contribute themselves. Considering that their revenue is based almost completely on advertisements, I would guess that Twitter is perfectly ok with people who only view ads, even if they don’t contribute.
Even time since last login is a tricky subject, as many people use Twitter as a source of info for major events. If you only use your account to follow news surround major elections, it makes perfect sense that you would only log in every 4 years.
Devil’s advocate, I know. 🙂
Dustin W. Stout says
It seems pretty easy to me– few or no followers, few or no following, few or no tweets in the past year= deadbeat account. Can that really be justified?
Bryan says
You can’t really be forced Tweet. Sometimes people just want to watch. And the fact that Twitter accounts can be used as an authorization tool, you have no idea if the person is solely using it for “Discover” and authorization.
Eric Dye says
This is a good point. However, if someone is using their Twitter account as an authorization tool, then some kind of user activity clause would keep the account active, despite the number of tweets, etc …
Dustin W. Stout says
Why would someone use an inactive Twitter account to authorize anything? Do you know anyone personally who signed up for twitter just to watch and never posted anything? I mean, it sounds good in theory– but does that really hold up?
Josh Ferrara says
It certainly does hold up. A large portion of Twitter users fall into this category. If you check out Twitter’s About page (http://twitter.com/about) the 3rd paragraph shows just how important that group of users is for Twitter.
They consider themselves an “information network”, not a social network, so they genuinely value people who see Twitter as a source of information, even if they don’t contribute.
I totally see where you’re coming from, and for the average business you’re completely correct. That approach doesn’t make sense, and even seems cancerous in many ways. But Twitter has made a calculated choice to pursue a different type of audience. From my interactions with their team I can tell you they aren’t concerned at all about “deadbeat users”, because they truly don’t consider them to be that.
Dustin W. Stout says
Yea, I get why Twitter’s PR team would use that verbiage. But my real question to you was– do you know anybody who is doing this? I’ve met a fairly large amount of people in my networking, and I can say with certainty that I’ve never met anyone who signed up for Twitter, never posted anything, but just goes on to read other people’s tweets.
Eric Dye says
What @Dustin said.
Gregory Ciotti says
An easy fix: Delete accounts that haven’t logged in for 6 months.
Don’t make it based on tweets, make it based on logging in.
Daniel Goepfrich says
Funny you should mention this. I have two Twitter accounts. One I use; the other is just to protect my name. I actually forgot about the second one until Twitter emailed me this week saying it had been compromised, and I should change my password. I thought it was a spam email because I forgot I even had the account. I do still want it, though, even if I never use it.
Dustin W. Stout says
But why do you want it? What is stopping you from using it?’
Daniel Goepfrich says
I want it because it’s my name. I don’t use it because I have another one I use. To be fair, since my name isn’t common, there probably aren’t many people clamoring for it like descriptive names.
Dustin W. Stout says
So why keep it if you’re not going to use it? Just to have it?
Eric Dye says
Good question, @Dustin. Pray tell?
Paul Prins says
You can actually request handles that are inactive as long as your have a legitimate/legal claim to make for it. I do not remember how to go about it, but this is how we secured @FreshVine. They have some hoops you need to jump through, but they were great to work with in that process. Even pulled over all our tweets/follows/etc to the new account (just like changing your handle).
Eric Dye says
What if it’s part of your personal name, though? That’s where it gets tricky.
Rutwin says
That’s my issue: my first name “Rutwin” has been taken by a person who doesn’t have this name…. 🙁
Eric Dye says
*sigh* That’s a bummer.
Dustin W. Stout says
This is frustrating for me as well. It is a problem and if Twitter continues to neglect it, it’s going to be a nightmare. I haven’t heard anyone give a legit reason in defense of inactive accounts. The “protecting the name” thing sounds cute, but it’s senseless. What are you protecting it from if you’re not gaining value from it by using it?
Eric Dye says
True story.
James Cooper says
I had the same thing last week. The one I really wanted hasn’t been used 2007 and has 31 followers and follows 0!
The other problem is the number of characters you’re allowed (15). Seems stupidly short. Heck, I know some people who’s surname is longer than that! Another nail in the ‘name protection’ argument…
Eric Dye says
That’s crazy!
April says
I had this issue when doing a name for my business. The one I wanted hasn’t had ANY tweets since 2010
Eric Dye says
This really is a plight and needs to be taken care of. I’ve heard so many stories like this!!!!
John Wylie says
I’ve wanted to get @johnwylie as my account for the past year straight.
The whole reason my name is ‘ivoryjohn’ is because I was in a band called ivorysky and we made all of our handles ‘ivory____’ – ready to move on and make something new.
I’ve tried everything Twitter suggests, tweeting the person many times, adding them to lists, following them…etc. As to try and get an e-mail notification sent to them…still nothing.
I’d even be willing to pay for the name. That is a good way for Twitter to make some money, because they seem to always want more.
Do an auction on deadbeat usernames, starting at like $5 bids and adding 50 cents for every bid until the winner is selected.
I just keep reminding my self that my brand isn’t my name, logo, or anything like that, but it is what people THINK of when they think of my username, logo or what have you.
I can change it, just not all the time.
And besides, what better username/logo than your own name (if you’re a blogger/writer that is).
Eric Dye says
THIS.
Dustin W. Stout says
This is why I’ve always encouraged people to stick with their real name. Unless you are tweeting/representing a strong brand or business, your real name is the best bet, and will create the most long-term value for you personally. This is why I loved the fact that Google+ required real names (at first anyways).
IMHO the whole “alias” or “ambiguoususername123” is passé and is fading faster than the ’90s from whence it originated.
Curtis says
It would be very easy to implement an exasperation date on inactive names. Hotmail used to do that back in its heyday, when it was the most popular webmail service. I think if you didn’t log into your account in three months the account would go into inactive mode. And if you didn’t recover it within six months the account would get recycled to someone else who wanted that name.
You could avoid the time limit if you paid a monthly fee. But to maintain a free account you had to use it at least once every three months. I don’t see how that would harm Twitter, and the option to pay a premium price to hold an inactive name would be a revenue stream for Twitter.
Eric Dye says
All of these are excellent ideas, I don’t know why Twitter keeps balking at doing anything about it …
Andy Darnell says
I’m all for someone getting a profile handle and keeping it so that no one else uses it… if it is your ‘brand’ but many are taken and never fully used. They’re just forgotten.
Good post. Glad to know I was a part of it 🙂
Eric Dye says
Your kind of awesome simply can’t be ignored. 😉
Sam says
Completely agree. It’s time for Biz, etc. to take this seriously.
Eric Dye says
😀
Bob says
I guess I got lucky. Several months ago I contacted the twitter account who had the name of my business. I was prepared to pay for it. But he was nice, and said that since he hadn’t used it, I could have it! He gave me the password, and I went in and changed it and took it over.
Now if only it could be the same with the one last site I’m trying to get – youtube. Someone in Russia who has never done anything with it.
@comedyinmotion
Eric Dye says
That’s awesome! Thankfully the twitter user you contacted was as deadbeat as others, and actually responded! WOOT!
Tyler Hess says
Ack! Great timing, because I was just looking this stuff up the last few days as well. its annoying when you can actually find a domain name that hasnt been squatted and then some dumb 14 year old kid took the twitter name that went along with it and hasnt used it since 2008 (which I guess would make them an 18 year old by now, so I am technically picking on an adult now and not a kid haha)
Eric Dye says
No stinkin’ kidding.