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Question about these hacked accounts: Why pay money for some account like this when Twitter will presumably just return the account to the original holder? And

Question about these hacked accounts: Why pay money for some account like this when Twitter will presumably just return the account to the original holder? And assuming I'm giving Twitter too much credit: How would one even start to use a taken over account, assuming the new account has its own followers and history, it's not as if one could just change identities and start posting from a new account as onesself. It would be weird to ask all my friends to start following a new account because I've switched accounts? Sorry, I don't think I've ever really understood Twitter.

verroq 6y ago
> Twitter will presumably just return the account to the original holder? This never happens and you can’t reach any support and get told to talk to the hand.
kanobo 6y ago
The desire for premium usernames isn't unique to Twitter, there was a good Reply All episode that dived deeper in the motivations of people who will pay for those accounts: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/v4he6k https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/v4he6k Also most accounts don't belong to famous people so I think you overestimate the willingness of Twitter to devote resources to do anything for most hacked accounts.
slg 6y ago
It isn't clear these accounts are all being used in any high profile manner. For example the @L account mentioned in the article has 0 followers, follows 1 account, and has their tweets protected. I just started plugging letters in and saw that accounts @B, @C, @D, and @E are all suspended. And considering these accounts were seemingly hijacked by exploiting Twitter's inability to identify the original account holder, I'm not sure Twitter actually has a way to determine who that should be conclusively.
Rotdhizon 6y ago
Your question holds the answer. It's very possible that any stolen account may not be returned to the owner. 1 letter accounts are worth 5 figure dollar amounts to people who are obsessed with online clout. Same goes for any other major social platform. IG, snap, Xbox, playstation network, etc. Most of the 1-2 letter and short "OG" accounts on IG are all either bought, traded, or stolen. Very, very few original owners exist in the space. There are also techniques people use to boost the chances that the original owners never get their account back. On Xbox for example, support looks at a few specific pieces of account info and their previous entries that only the real owner would know. So people just flood the account over and over and over with filler info until all those original entries are gone and the original owners suddenly have no ground to prove that they owned it. It's a vicious game and I'll never understand why some people are so extremely desperate for internet fame but there's a whole community based around it. What another commenter said is also spot on. A majority of these accounts are not owned by famous people, just random joes who got lucky or bought the accounts on forums. Unless you are famous, these platforms do not care about you. If you can't get your account back through the standard support options, there's no special options(usually) for you to get help like famous people have.
- 135792468 6y ago
  I’m a random joe who has one! I have a two letter twitter account that I’d gladly sell for 5 figures if that were true. I get daily hack attempts and blackmail threats often. Good times.
  - rozab 6y ago
    I'd love to read a blog post about that if you manage to do it

verroq 6y ago

> Twitter will presumably just return the account to the original holder? This never happens and you can’t reach any support and get told to talk to the hand.

kanobo 6y ago

The desire for premium usernames isn't unique to Twitter, there was a good Reply All episode that dived deeper in the motivations of people who will pay for those accounts: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/v4he6k https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/v4he6k Also most accounts don't belong to famous people so I think you overestimate the willingness of Twitter to devote resources to do anything for most hacked accounts.

slg 6y ago

It isn't clear these accounts are all being used in any high profile manner. For example the @L account mentioned in the article has 0 followers, follows 1 account, and has their tweets protected. I just started plugging letters in and saw that accounts @B, @C, @D, and @E are all suspended. And considering these accounts were seemingly hijacked by exploiting Twitter's inability to identify the original account holder, I'm not sure Twitter actually has a way to determine who that should be conclusively.

Rotdhizon 6y ago

Your question holds the answer. It's very possible that any stolen account may not be returned to the owner. 1 letter accounts are worth 5 figure dollar amounts to people who are obsessed with online clout. Same goes for any other major social platform. IG, snap, Xbox, playstation network, etc. Most of the 1-2 letter and short "OG" accounts on IG are all either bought, traded, or stolen. Very, very few original owners exist in the space. There are also techniques people use to boost the chances that the original owners never get their account back. On Xbox for example, support looks at a few specific pieces of account info and their previous entries that only the real owner would know. So people just flood the account over and over and over with filler info until all those original entries are gone and the original owners suddenly have no ground to prove that they owned it. It's a vicious game and I'll never understand why some people are so extremely desperate for internet fame but there's a whole community based around it. What another commenter said is also spot on. A majority of these accounts are not owned by famous people, just random joes who got lucky or bought the accounts on forums. Unless you are famous, these platforms do not care about you. If you can't get your account back through the standard support options, there's no special options(usually) for you to get help like famous people have.

135792468 6y ago
I’m a random joe who has one! I have a two letter twitter account that I’d gladly sell for 5 figures if that were true. I get daily hack attempts and blackmail threats often. Good times.
- rozab 6y ago
  I'd love to read a blog post about that if you manage to do it