8 ms·

Tower Bridge bot killed by Twitter, replaced with marketing

235 points by tomstuart 15y ago

thehodge 15y ago
I commented on the post but will post it here as well; I had a similar thing with @apress a few years ago, I set up an automated twitter feed to post the daily book deal to a twitter account, a couple of months afterwards I checked and realized @apress was just given to Apress without any email or notice (everything I posted too was lost) Fair play to apress I contacted them and they got back to me within half an hour, they had no idea twitter hadn’t contacted me they were just given the account and they apologised to me.. I very much doubt its the TB more likely to be the TB search, marketing or social media agency who want to control the brand rather than embrace and engage (ironic eh) infact I’d doubt that TB is fully aware of what has happened (until they get into the office on monday morning and see the hundreds of @ replies they've had)
- thehodge 15y ago
  Just as an addition to this, a friend just pointed out this tweet https://twitter.com/#!/brandcarrie/status/20333195936 https://twitter.com/#!/brandcarrie/status/20333195936 About to set up a Tower Bridge Twitter with the IT boys... Any advice?
  - dsingleton 15y ago
    Careful with that, I can already see that person getting abuse whether they are involved or not :/
  - m0tive 15y ago
    I don't think we should start blaming the marketing agency for what has happened (even if they did start the process). It is Twitter who should take responsibility for silently transferring ownership of the @towerbridge account and then effectively deleting it.
    - xsmasher 15y ago
      Not yet. The original user should kindly ask for the account back. EDIT: User, not owner.
    - glenngillen 15y ago
      Though I feel little sympathy for an agency who looks at an already active twitter account, sees it has 4000+ followers, and makes the determination that "Hey, what we should do is take over this account and send marketing crap to all these followers rather than continue to send them what they originally signed up for. I mean, it's just a feed of what time the bridge will open/close, it's unlikely any of these people live near by." Way to piss off your target market.
  - mkr-hn 15y ago
    https://twitter.com/#!/BrandCarrie/status/71231424824483840 https://twitter.com/#!/BrandCarrie/status/71231424824483840 "follow our new Twitter account for Tower Bridge.... @TowerBridgeExh" @TowerBridgeExh is invalid, so if this is the same one, then they didn't originally go with the stolen account. I also see several similar accounts (like @tower_bridge), so this might not be related.
  - fluidcruft 15y ago
    Why would a nearly 1-year-old tweet be relevant?
corin_ 15y ago
Reading this new account's 15 tweets, it's clear that it is being run by someone who fancies themselves as a bit of a social media expert, but who is rather awful at it. Ironicly, I can't see them ever getting nearly as many followers as the bot ever had.
deleted 15y ago
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deleted 15y ago
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kmfrk 15y ago
So much wrong with this (feel free to add more numbered points): 1. The account was already popular (i.e., it served a purpose): 4000+ followers. 2. The account was already active with plenty of tweets. 3. No warning. No notice. 4. No back-up of the tweets. 5. The new account is clearly some useless social media expert bullshit. 6. In their defence, the new user claims not to have been informed of how this was going to be handled. I perfectly understand the general concept of fighting user name squatters, but this just makes no sense to me from any point of view. Is there any nasty legislation that can penalize Twitter for having accounts misrepresenting the official namesake?
- mryall 15y ago
  Trademark is the normal legal foundation for protecting a name. But trademarks are limited by industry and geography, so attempting to enforce them on a single global namespace like Twitter or DNS is always going to end up with conflicts. However, this is probably the best way to protect a name you use on Twitter: register a trademark and let them know that you're using your registered name as a Twitter handle and want it maintained for your business/organisation.
- brown9-2 15y ago
  Surely in Twitter's terms of service you agree to allow things like this to happen. Sure these things may seem "wrong" ethically, but it is clear at this point that Twitter does not care.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
msy 15y ago
Given how often this happens with Twitter, Facebook and ever other Corp-owned namespace the more I appreciate the clear ownership status afforded by DNS, despite it's many flaws. It's also why I put my domain on my business card but not my Twitter, all it'd take is an account hack and some spam or a backhander from some firm and it would't be mind anymore with no recourse whatsoever.
- kmfrk 15y ago
  It's a great point you bring up. When using a static business card, you can always put a link to a dynamic site that updates your presences online, like you do with something like flavors.me and all the similar services. I wonder if my very general Twitter handle is a boon or a risk.
  - Ygor 15y ago
    Wouldn't using an external service also put you in the same risk? Or was that what you said too, but just mentioned the service as an example? Isn't the best option to have the domain you control list all the details you want, including the social stuff? Would you react better if a business or an individual has a specific owned domain as a handle? As a software oriented business and/or person, isn't using anything but a unique domain considered less professional?
- iamdave 15y ago
  Linking to your twitter profile as a "url" is something I've never understood. I'll see really awesome web sites, want to see what else the person has done and I have to go through the extra clicks of first going to a twitter profile, then to the site. Granted, it's one extra click, but I'm not particularly interested in your timeline of tweets. I want to see your work.
  - corin_ 15y ago
    Twitter on business cards is mostly as a form of connection (same as an email address). For many people it's a dumb idea, but in some circles (a good example being tech marketing) it can be useful. If someone who actively uses twitter follows you, and you're an active user too, it's a constant reminder that they know you, and they won't forget who you are.
evilpie 15y ago
Recovered some of them with google and a quick and dirty script. http://pastebin.mozilla.org/1248302 http://pastebin.mozilla.org/1248302
- evilpie 15y ago
  Accurate data from http://topsy.com/twitter/towerbridge http://topsy.com/twitter/towerbridge, http://pastebin.mozilla.org/1248326 http://pastebin.mozilla.org/1248326
anotherjesse 15y ago
Sadly this is common for twitter to do without contracting the party. For over a year I ran a bot called @amazon which when messaged would look up the price of a book using the amazon api and respond to the user. When amazon decided to join twitter, they contacted twitter who simply deleted my account and gave it to them without contacting me. After contacting amazon as I would have gladly given them the bot, they informed me they didn't ask for it to be deleted but to contact me. At the time twitter made some excuse about how it is against their TOS to give my email to another party (yet acceptable to delete with even contacting me)... Seems like things haven't changed at le twit
- afterburner 15y ago
  Twitter... in it for the dollarz. This is pretty brazen. They can be bullies if they want with their own space, but the lack of communication is amazingly rude. However, I remember experiencing exactly the same thing when my undergrad email was changed, without any notification whatsoever, because some TA had joined who had the same last name. The admin was completely unapologetic when I shared my irritation. So maybe it's to be expected in the culture. Twitter... just like a lame undergrad sysadmin.
fomojola 15y ago
Well, its Twitter. What were you expecting? You ride on their network for free, you can't be surprised when they opt to kick you off it without warning. Yes, the courtesy would be nice, but... Set up a website.
- pnathan 15y ago
  Well, it is pretty rude of them. But yes, if you want to maintain a reliable presence, you have to pay for it.
- leot 15y ago
  Perhaps what's most galling is that, without users creating good content (users like the original @towerbridge) twitter would be nearly worthless. "You ride on their network for free" as if users were leeching off of content twitter itself had made, when it's possible to just as easily argue that it's twitter who is leeching off of its users. Musicians will often credit their "fans" as vital (e.g. [1]). Great music is still great even if only heard by a few people, making the fans impact at best indirect. Yet in the case of social networks, users and their participation are all the network has, period. [1] http://www.celebuzz.com/2011-03-07/demi-lovato-tells-fans-i-wouldnt-be-here-without-you-video/ http://www.celebuzz.com/2011-03-07/demi-lovato-tells-fans-i-...
deleted 15y ago
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groby_b 15y ago
More proof that any data you share on a system that is not controlled by you is vulnerable to the interests of the system owner. Even worse when that data basically is part of your identity online. And I'm not surprised it happened, either. Twitter seems to be slowly realizing that the way for them to make money is to work as an online "passport" of sorts - an identity service. As such, they have to head that direction. Sure, they need a better arbitration process. But as long as they can get away with just giving it to the more likely candidate, why spend the money?
deleted 15y ago
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willyt 15y ago
pachube.com is a nice place to post this kind of data too. They have a nice api for this.
gavingmiller 15y ago
I'm surprised Twitter hasn't tried to monetize this ala domain names. For handles that I want to keep, I (and no doubt many others) would fork over the cash to permanently secure it.
jasonlotito 15y ago
http://support.twitter.com/articles/18311-the-twitter-rules http://support.twitter.com/articles/18311-the-twitter-rules "Trademark: We reserve the right to reclaim user names on behalf of businesses or individuals that hold legal claim or trademark on those user names. Accounts using business names and/or logos to mislead others will be permanently suspended." How they handled it might have sucked, but it was fairly clear what they would end up doing in situations like this.
- protomyth 15y ago
  Except it doesn't look like they actually have a trademark. There actual name is a longer version of the username.
- cubicle67 15y ago
  except that Twitter has a global namespace, and trademarks are what, national? Say, as an example, I own Tim's Bike Shop in Australia, and have @timsbikeshop on Twitter. What happens if there's a US Tim's Bike Shop that decides it wants that Twitter id? To me, both have the same 'right' (I use quotes because it's obviously not a right) to the id, but I win because I was in first. Does Twitter assume because the second claimant is legit the first is not?
protomyth 15y ago
The followup http://infovore.org/archives/2011/06/12/towerbridge-a-bit-more-clarity/ http://infovore.org/archives/2011/06/12/towerbridge-a-bit-mo...
- kmfrk 15y ago
  Guess #3 is off my list. Obviously, the whole "intentional misleading" does not apply here. In general, I think it would benefit Twitter or at least the trademark holders, if Twitter introduced the opposite of a "Verified" badge: a "Unofficial" badge - which the user in this case can activate without needing approval from Twitter, if Twitter does not beat them to it. Of course, the adverse effect is that it would also serve to point out how ruthlessly Twitter enforce their ToS, once one of the accounts are seized.
DomainNoob 15y ago
One thing I think would help would be if Twitter would open up registrations to more than 15 letters.
jeffreymcmanus 15y ago
Totally permissible under intellectual property law. The internet does not invalidate the concept of trademark. Totally stupid from a customer service perspective, the on the part of both Twitter and the Tower Bridge.
- dexen 15y ago
  Please note the sole purpose of trademarks is consumer protection. Protection from counterfeit goods and services, where `counterfeit' means coming from different source than the one the consumer expects due to branding the goods or services bear. Now ask yourself (or even better, Twitter), `were consumers being deceived, or at risk of being?' `Is account name an instance of use of any brand?' I believe Twitter should just follow the standard practice of using ™ and ® (TM and (R)) symbols for visual identification of accounts that are representing trademarks.
  - jeffreymcmanus 15y ago
    >> Please note the sole purpose of trademarks is consumer protection Not true at all, although it's easy to understand why someone would wish that this were the case. The sole purpose of trademarks (really trademark law) is to protect the holder of the intellectual property. Market confusion is a test used to determine whether a trademark infringement has taken place, but it's only one of several possible tests.
- protomyth 15y ago
  the problem being that "Tower Bridge Exhibitions" is not a trademark owner for "Tower Bridge". It actually seems like they are stomping on other companies trademarks by claiming the base name"Tower Bridge" when they don't have it as a registered trademark in any field of endeavor.
a3_nm 15y ago
Why are people still using Twitter? It's not exactly an elaborate service, and there are alternatives available...
remi 15y ago
Well, it looks like he did get a notice. New blog post: http://infovore.org/archives/2011/06/12/towerbridge-a-bit-more-clarity http://infovore.org/archives/2011/06/12/towerbridge-a-bit-mo...
mgkimsal 15y ago
The followup post was basically "ell, we should have had a conversation about it, rather than just yanking it". Certainly a decent claim. However, per the old @towerbridge name holder, twitter did contact him via email, and he'd just overlooked it. I'm not in a position now to see what the old account info had on it, but I know there's been plenty of people I've wanted to reach out to for a number of reasons, and it's sometimes damned near impossible to get ahold of someone without doing it publicly. I can 'tweet' someone publicly, but can't DM if they don't follow me. I can publicly blog post, perhaps, but often there's no 'contact form' (or it may just get ignored as spam). Usually blogs or other info have no phone number or email on them. Facebook? Do I post "hey, please call me!" on your wall? Ugh - the web's become entirely far too 'one way', and then we wonder why stuff like this happens? It's pretty damn hard to make a connection to someone without it being public, and not every conversation should be made in public.
invisible 15y ago
Why doesn't twitter just change the username to something ELSE instead of deleting/banning the account?
urbanjunkie 15y ago
It turns out that Tower Bridge Exhibition (the org that now controls @towerbridge) don't even have a trademark on Tower Bridge. http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-text/ http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-text/
__mark 15y ago
I should probably look around for a new name then, I'm DanishBacon on twitter, which puts me in the danger area for being deleted outright and replaced by a bacon marketing scheme..
tokyoq 15y ago
For those that care, Tower Bridge back online and tweeting at http://twitter.com/#!/twrbrdg_itself http://twitter.com/#!/twrbrdg_itself

235 points by tomstuart 15y ago

I commented on the post but will post it here as well; I had a similar thing with @apress a few years ago, I set up an automated twitter feed to post the daily book deal to a twitter account, a couple of months afterwards I checked and realized @apress was just given to Apress without any email or notice (everything I posted too was lost) Fair play to apress I contacted them and they got back to me within half an hour, they had no idea twitter hadn’t contacted me they were just given the account and they apologised to me.. I very much doubt its the TB more likely to be the TB search, marketing or social media agency who want to control the brand rather than embrace and engage (ironic eh) infact I’d doubt that TB is fully aware of what has happened (until they get into the office on monday morning and see the hundreds of @ replies they've had)

thehodge 15y ago
Just as an addition to this, a friend just pointed out this tweet https://twitter.com/#!/brandcarrie/status/20333195936 https://twitter.com/#!/brandcarrie/status/20333195936 About to set up a Tower Bridge Twitter with the IT boys... Any advice?
- dsingleton 15y ago
  Careful with that, I can already see that person getting abuse whether they are involved or not :/
- m0tive 15y ago
  I don't think we should start blaming the marketing agency for what has happened (even if they did start the process). It is Twitter who should take responsibility for silently transferring ownership of the @towerbridge account and then effectively deleting it.
  - xsmasher 15y ago
    Not yet. The original user should kindly ask for the account back. EDIT: User, not owner.
  - glenngillen 15y ago
    Though I feel little sympathy for an agency who looks at an already active twitter account, sees it has 4000+ followers, and makes the determination that "Hey, what we should do is take over this account and send marketing crap to all these followers rather than continue to send them what they originally signed up for. I mean, it's just a feed of what time the bridge will open/close, it's unlikely any of these people live near by." Way to piss off your target market.
- mkr-hn 15y ago
  https://twitter.com/#!/BrandCarrie/status/71231424824483840 https://twitter.com/#!/BrandCarrie/status/71231424824483840 "follow our new Twitter account for Tower Bridge.... @TowerBridgeExh" @TowerBridgeExh is invalid, so if this is the same one, then they didn't originally go with the stolen account. I also see several similar accounts (like @tower_bridge), so this might not be related.
- fluidcruft 15y ago
  Why would a nearly 1-year-old tweet be relevant?

corin_ 15y ago

Reading this new account's 15 tweets, it's clear that it is being run by someone who fancies themselves as a bit of a social media expert, but who is rather awful at it. Ironicly, I can't see them ever getting nearly as many followers as the bot ever had.

deleted 15y ago

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deleted 15y ago

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kmfrk 15y ago

So much wrong with this (feel free to add more numbered points): 1. The account was already popular (i.e., it served a purpose): 4000+ followers. 2. The account was already active with plenty of tweets. 3. No warning. No notice. 4. No back-up of the tweets. 5. The new account is clearly some useless social media expert bullshit. 6. In their defence, the new user claims not to have been informed of how this was going to be handled. I perfectly understand the general concept of fighting user name squatters, but this just makes no sense to me from any point of view. Is there any nasty legislation that can penalize Twitter for having accounts misrepresenting the official namesake?

mryall 15y ago
Trademark is the normal legal foundation for protecting a name. But trademarks are limited by industry and geography, so attempting to enforce them on a single global namespace like Twitter or DNS is always going to end up with conflicts. However, this is probably the best way to protect a name you use on Twitter: register a trademark and let them know that you're using your registered name as a Twitter handle and want it maintained for your business/organisation.
brown9-2 15y ago
Surely in Twitter's terms of service you agree to allow things like this to happen. Sure these things may seem "wrong" ethically, but it is clear at this point that Twitter does not care.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

msy 15y ago

Given how often this happens with Twitter, Facebook and ever other Corp-owned namespace the more I appreciate the clear ownership status afforded by DNS, despite it's many flaws. It's also why I put my domain on my business card but not my Twitter, all it'd take is an account hack and some spam or a backhander from some firm and it would't be mind anymore with no recourse whatsoever.

kmfrk 15y ago
It's a great point you bring up. When using a static business card, you can always put a link to a dynamic site that updates your presences online, like you do with something like flavors.me and all the similar services. I wonder if my very general Twitter handle is a boon or a risk.
- Ygor 15y ago
  Wouldn't using an external service also put you in the same risk? Or was that what you said too, but just mentioned the service as an example? Isn't the best option to have the domain you control list all the details you want, including the social stuff? Would you react better if a business or an individual has a specific owned domain as a handle? As a software oriented business and/or person, isn't using anything but a unique domain considered less professional?
iamdave 15y ago
Linking to your twitter profile as a "url" is something I've never understood. I'll see really awesome web sites, want to see what else the person has done and I have to go through the extra clicks of first going to a twitter profile, then to the site. Granted, it's one extra click, but I'm not particularly interested in your timeline of tweets. I want to see your work.
- corin_ 15y ago
  Twitter on business cards is mostly as a form of connection (same as an email address). For many people it's a dumb idea, but in some circles (a good example being tech marketing) it can be useful. If someone who actively uses twitter follows you, and you're an active user too, it's a constant reminder that they know you, and they won't forget who you are.

evilpie 15y ago

Recovered some of them with google and a quick and dirty script. http://pastebin.mozilla.org/1248302 http://pastebin.mozilla.org/1248302

evilpie 15y ago
Accurate data from http://topsy.com/twitter/towerbridge http://topsy.com/twitter/towerbridge, http://pastebin.mozilla.org/1248326 http://pastebin.mozilla.org/1248326

anotherjesse 15y ago

Sadly this is common for twitter to do without contracting the party. For over a year I ran a bot called @amazon which when messaged would look up the price of a book using the amazon api and respond to the user. When amazon decided to join twitter, they contacted twitter who simply deleted my account and gave it to them without contacting me. After contacting amazon as I would have gladly given them the bot, they informed me they didn't ask for it to be deleted but to contact me. At the time twitter made some excuse about how it is against their TOS to give my email to another party (yet acceptable to delete with even contacting me)... Seems like things haven't changed at le twit

afterburner 15y ago
Twitter... in it for the dollarz. This is pretty brazen. They can be bullies if they want with their own space, but the lack of communication is amazingly rude. However, I remember experiencing exactly the same thing when my undergrad email was changed, without any notification whatsoever, because some TA had joined who had the same last name. The admin was completely unapologetic when I shared my irritation. So maybe it's to be expected in the culture. Twitter... just like a lame undergrad sysadmin.

fomojola 15y ago

Well, its Twitter. What were you expecting? You ride on their network for free, you can't be surprised when they opt to kick you off it without warning. Yes, the courtesy would be nice, but... Set up a website.

pnathan 15y ago
Well, it is pretty rude of them. But yes, if you want to maintain a reliable presence, you have to pay for it.
leot 15y ago
Perhaps what's most galling is that, without users creating good content (users like the original @towerbridge) twitter would be nearly worthless. "You ride on their network for free" as if users were leeching off of content twitter itself had made, when it's possible to just as easily argue that it's twitter who is leeching off of its users. Musicians will often credit their "fans" as vital (e.g. [1]). Great music is still great even if only heard by a few people, making the fans impact at best indirect. Yet in the case of social networks, users and their participation are all the network has, period. [1] http://www.celebuzz.com/2011-03-07/demi-lovato-tells-fans-i-wouldnt-be-here-without-you-video/ http://www.celebuzz.com/2011-03-07/demi-lovato-tells-fans-i-...

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

groby_b 15y ago

More proof that any data you share on a system that is not controlled by you is vulnerable to the interests of the system owner. Even worse when that data basically is part of your identity online. And I'm not surprised it happened, either. Twitter seems to be slowly realizing that the way for them to make money is to work as an online "passport" of sorts - an identity service. As such, they have to head that direction. Sure, they need a better arbitration process. But as long as they can get away with just giving it to the more likely candidate, why spend the money?

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

willyt 15y ago

pachube.com is a nice place to post this kind of data too. They have a nice api for this.

gavingmiller 15y ago

I'm surprised Twitter hasn't tried to monetize this ala domain names. For handles that I want to keep, I (and no doubt many others) would fork over the cash to permanently secure it.

jasonlotito 15y ago

http://support.twitter.com/articles/18311-the-twitter-rules http://support.twitter.com/articles/18311-the-twitter-rules "Trademark: We reserve the right to reclaim user names on behalf of businesses or individuals that hold legal claim or trademark on those user names. Accounts using business names and/or logos to mislead others will be permanently suspended." How they handled it might have sucked, but it was fairly clear what they would end up doing in situations like this.

protomyth 15y ago
Except it doesn't look like they actually have a trademark. There actual name is a longer version of the username.
cubicle67 15y ago
except that Twitter has a global namespace, and trademarks are what, national? Say, as an example, I own Tim's Bike Shop in Australia, and have @timsbikeshop on Twitter. What happens if there's a US Tim's Bike Shop that decides it wants that Twitter id? To me, both have the same 'right' (I use quotes because it's obviously not a right) to the id, but I win because I was in first. Does Twitter assume because the second claimant is legit the first is not?

protomyth 15y ago

The followup http://infovore.org/archives/2011/06/12/towerbridge-a-bit-more-clarity/ http://infovore.org/archives/2011/06/12/towerbridge-a-bit-mo...

kmfrk 15y ago
Guess #3 is off my list. Obviously, the whole "intentional misleading" does not apply here. In general, I think it would benefit Twitter or at least the trademark holders, if Twitter introduced the opposite of a "Verified" badge: a "Unofficial" badge - which the user in this case can activate without needing approval from Twitter, if Twitter does not beat them to it. Of course, the adverse effect is that it would also serve to point out how ruthlessly Twitter enforce their ToS, once one of the accounts are seized.

DomainNoob 15y ago

One thing I think would help would be if Twitter would open up registrations to more than 15 letters.

jeffreymcmanus 15y ago

Totally permissible under intellectual property law. The internet does not invalidate the concept of trademark. Totally stupid from a customer service perspective, the on the part of both Twitter and the Tower Bridge.

dexen 15y ago
Please note the sole purpose of trademarks is consumer protection. Protection from counterfeit goods and services, where `counterfeit' means coming from different source than the one the consumer expects due to branding the goods or services bear. Now ask yourself (or even better, Twitter), `were consumers being deceived, or at risk of being?' `Is account name an instance of use of any brand?' I believe Twitter should just follow the standard practice of using ™ and ® (TM and (R)) symbols for visual identification of accounts that are representing trademarks.
- jeffreymcmanus 15y ago
  >> Please note the sole purpose of trademarks is consumer protection Not true at all, although it's easy to understand why someone would wish that this were the case. The sole purpose of trademarks (really trademark law) is to protect the holder of the intellectual property. Market confusion is a test used to determine whether a trademark infringement has taken place, but it's only one of several possible tests.
protomyth 15y ago
the problem being that "Tower Bridge Exhibitions" is not a trademark owner for "Tower Bridge". It actually seems like they are stomping on other companies trademarks by claiming the base name"Tower Bridge" when they don't have it as a registered trademark in any field of endeavor.

a3_nm 15y ago

Why are people still using Twitter? It's not exactly an elaborate service, and there are alternatives available...

remi 15y ago

Well, it looks like he did get a notice. New blog post: http://infovore.org/archives/2011/06/12/towerbridge-a-bit-more-clarity http://infovore.org/archives/2011/06/12/towerbridge-a-bit-mo...

mgkimsal 15y ago

The followup post was basically "ell, we should have had a conversation about it, rather than just yanking it". Certainly a decent claim. However, per the old @towerbridge name holder, twitter did contact him via email, and he'd just overlooked it. I'm not in a position now to see what the old account info had on it, but I know there's been plenty of people I've wanted to reach out to for a number of reasons, and it's sometimes damned near impossible to get ahold of someone without doing it publicly. I can 'tweet' someone publicly, but can't DM if they don't follow me. I can publicly blog post, perhaps, but often there's no 'contact form' (or it may just get ignored as spam). Usually blogs or other info have no phone number or email on them. Facebook? Do I post "hey, please call me!" on your wall? Ugh - the web's become entirely far too 'one way', and then we wonder why stuff like this happens? It's pretty damn hard to make a connection to someone without it being public, and not every conversation should be made in public.

invisible 15y ago

Why doesn't twitter just change the username to something ELSE instead of deleting/banning the account?

urbanjunkie 15y ago

It turns out that Tower Bridge Exhibition (the org that now controls @towerbridge) don't even have a trademark on Tower Bridge. http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-text/ http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-text/

__mark 15y ago

I should probably look around for a new name then, I'm DanishBacon on twitter, which puts me in the danger area for being deleted outright and replaced by a bacon marketing scheme..

tokyoq 15y ago

For those that care, Tower Bridge back online and tweeting at http://twitter.com/#!/twrbrdg_itself http://twitter.com/#!/twrbrdg_itself