TikToker Reveals How to Get The Username You Want

Almost every internet user knows the feeling of wanting to get the username you want, only to find out that it is already taken.

Worse, many of those desired accounts are dormant, meaning the potential username is lost in the annals of history.

But according to TikToker Neil (@tallneil), there’s still a chance you’ll get your username, and in a video with over 237,000 views, he reveals how.

@tallneil replying to @damnimnotcreative on how to get desired username #usernames #domains #creators #creatortips #tiktokcreators ♬ Original sound – tallneil

In summary, many websites have “inactive account” policies. This means that when an account is no longer used, its username can be recycled and taken over by another user.

However, in order to release this inactive account, there are a few steps that need to be taken.

“I’m emailing support and specifically quoting their inactive account policy,” Neil says. “Those are sort of the magic words to say.”

“The other magic word is ‘free’. Delete that username and inactive account policy,” he continues.

At the end of the video, he says that this particular example worked for the Medium site.

In a follow-up, he says to always notify support first, not the user.

@tallneil in reply to @jdevola #greenscreen dm’ing an inactive account #usernames ♬ Original sound – tallneil

This is because when the user sends a message, they log in to view the message – which reactivates their account and resets the inactive account policy timer.

If one cannot unlock the account through the inactive account policy, there are other methods one can use to get the desired username. Neil shows an example of this using the Twitter website.

@tallneil replying to @raci #greenscreen how I got my twitter handle #twitter #usernames #creatortips ♬ Original sound – tallneil

This tip is a bit more complicated since his desired handle was a suspended account. After unsuccessfully attempting to use the inactive account policy, Neil used other methods to attempt to contact the account owner.

Using Twitter’s advanced search, he found users who had previously replied to the tweets of the desired username.

He contacted these users who provided him with the contact information for the user with his requested username.

“…I worked out an agreement with the account owner and now I own this account,” he shares.

In comments, users asked about specific platforms’ policies regarding dead usernames. While information was scarce, Neil said in comments that Instagram was “a lot harder” than sites like Medium.

Still, the learning gave hope to some users.

“That’s great advice, I’ve had some great usernames on sites I don’t use anymore,” wrote one commenter. “I hope this works well.”

The Daily Dot contacted Neil via email.

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