How To Claim A Twitter Handle or Username, My Own Exprecience

Last month I claimed @NaijaNews twitter account which was previously used someone else. I observe that there are alot of people who like to claim an account for their brand, below is a simple process to follow.

When we launched NaijaNews.com in November, the obvious choice for our twitter name was @NaijaNews, but it was taken by someone else and we had to manage “@NaijaNewsDotCom” which was a little bit long and not as classy as @NaijaNews.

After a few day I discovered we needed @NaijaNews and nothing else because it best represents our brand . So I decided to do something about it and who knows maybe you are in a same position now and could use some insights. Here goes:

1. Make sure the account is idle for at least six month.
   Check that there are no tweets or have been for a while. Twitter suggests you login at least once in six months. For @NaijaNews the handle was created in 2009 and the ;last tweet was in 2010
2. Make sure you have a .com domain or active trademark for that name.
   It is a must that you own the .com domain for the twitter name you want to claim. You would have a leverage at claiming the handle if you have an active trademark for the handle name
3. Submit an impersonation claim to Twitter.
   You can do that here. As this form has lot of different choices, here are the steps to take:

Report an account for impersonation. Fill out the form below to request help.
How can we help?

• An account is pretending to be me or someone I know.
• An account is pretending to be or represent my company, brand, or organization.
• My account was suspended.
• I can’t sign in to my account.
• My account has been hacked or compromised.
• Someone is using my email address without my permission.

Obvously the form is self-explanatory, fill it using an email which has a domain name matching the twitter name you are after.

Cool!

After you’ve successfully filled the form you should get a follow up email from Twitter asking you to submit some documents which may include a goverment issued ID card or Passport and proof of ownership of the domain, keep replying the domain and within a week the twitter handle should be yours

Goodluck!

Follow us on Twitter now:  @NaijaNews