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I Changed My Twitter Username – How You Can Too

by Jesse Stay — published on January 8th, 2009

For those that follow me on Twitter, be sure to look for me now under the username, “Jesse” (or @Jesse in Twitter speak). If you’re already following me, the transition should have occurred seamlessly, and you shouldn’t have to re-follow me. If you have me in a TweetDeck Group or similar 3rd party app, you may want to update me there. I have created a new account under my old username, “JesseStay“, just in case anyone has anything pointing to that username still. It just sends people back to this account.

You Can Too!

Making the switch was easy! And it serves as some great Google juice for my first name – maybe I can finally achieve my dream of beating Jesse McCartney as the number one spot on Google! To get the name you want, assuming it’s already taken, verify that there haven’t been any updates for over 9 months on the name. Then, send an e-mail to username@twitter.com – you’ll receive a support e-mail back, asking you some more questions. Answer those questions, and wait a few weeks. Assuming someone hasn’t already beaten you to it, you should be set!

Update Your Third Party Sites!

Now that you’ve changed your username, you may want to go back and create the old account, and put a post, pointing it to your new name just in case. Then, be sure to go to sites like SocialToo.com or clients like TweetDeck and update your username there, as many sites will still think you’re under the old username. It will take some work, but if you really, really want that new name, it may just be worth it. Oh, and change your passwords to something strong! If you have a common first name, you will now be one of the first to be targeted in a hacker attack. Good luck!

Posted on Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 5:13 pm. Filed under Technology, Twitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Twitter stopped accepting username change requests.
    It seems they are working on a better solution to solve this.
    http://www.controlenter.in/2009/01/twitter-stops-processing-username-change-requests/
  • that isn't good news for twitter newbies like i am :D
  • I know another way to do it faster -- Create another account!
  • Paul, except that won't get you a stale account that someone else has been
    sitting on. My goal in this was to get the account "Jesse", which someone
    else already owned but wasn't using.
  • LOL -- I remember a time when I signed up for 5 Twitter accounts and added everybody over and over again, because I didn't know you could simply change your user name. Great stuff.
  • to keep twitter from censoring me all I have to do is change my name?
  • Um, I'd be careful Noah - if Twitter keeps censoring you, you have bigger
    problems than that. They could very well block your IP. Have you ever tried
    to figure out why they are censoring you and adjust accordingly? I think
    you'll see great results by doing so.
  • it has nothing to do with my IP. I just changed internet connection accounts. no they delete my accounts because they don't like me. last year they were claiming that twitter was a free speech free for all. I complained about certain issues and was laughed at. I tested to see how honest and straight up their free speech code was and they shoot the messenger. twitter is a hostile country club. They leave a few token divergent viewpoints that get traffic, but for the most part they control the game. I'm sure their behavior will improve because I think people are heading back to facebook. Ironic that twitter launched to success mostly because of the social restrictions of facebook... now that twitter is proving no better... people are heading back to facebook.
  • Noah, if you have such hostilities toward Twitter, then why are you on
    Twitter?
  • LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT?
  • Great Idea, I'm trying it out now, I'll let you know how it goes!I'm trying to get one that's been gone since MAR2007, so wish me luck.
  • Too bad the one I want is owned by a company. ChaCha should give me my name back...
  • The downside for this is that every single post that included a link to your old Twitter account on my blog now points to the old one. And NO, I won't go back to them all and make a change.
  • That's why I created a new JesseStay account that says go to my new Jesse
    account. And no, I don't expect you to change them.
  • Is the only way that this is possible is if they haven't updated for a year? I am guessing so :(
  • Jordan, correct, so I hear.
  • the twitter rule is 9 months! i am eagerly waiting for twitter to get me my first name, should be here in a couple of days!

    here's twitter mentioning it: http://getsatisfaction.com/twitter/topics/can_an_inactive_twitter_page_username_be_removed_by_request_or_even_a_request_be_sent_to_the_current_inactive
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