Hashtags are amazing. Not just because they offer such a clever way of grouping content, searching and adding context. Not even because they were used on IRC long before Twitter even thought of. It is because they have invaded the public consciousness in an irrevocable way that will continue to affect our world for generations to come.
Think about it, when was the last time you made a hashtag reference and someone didn’t know what you were talking about? What do you think of every time you see a # sign?
How many websites are now using this format, including sites that were straight up against the idea like Facebook?
But for all the attention it has gotten, we have been remarkably careless with our hashtags. Many people don’t seem to understand how they work, and they misuse the tool. Which is a fast way for them to suffer a backlash, sometimes without even knowing they have.
Here are a few common ways people abuse the hashtag system, and what should be done instead.
Make hashtags natural part of the tweet:
- The Bad: Using a bunch of hashtags in every single tweet in order to attract the attention of anyone who might possibly be able to benefit from it.
- The Good: It might seem like a good idea to stuff a tweet full of every possible relevant hashtag. But this takes up your precious character limit and looks tacky. Instead, use one or two hashtags in a tweet, and if possible try and hashtag a word in the tweet itself. For example, you could write “I found the best #vegetarian pizza recipe ever!” Now you don’t have to add #vegetarian to the end of the tweet.
Hashtags should make sense:
- The Bad: Using random hashtags that may or may not be important in the tweet itself, just because it is slightly related.
- The Good: Getting over zealous with your hashtagging is easy to do. I have seen people hashtag every single word in a tweet, just so they came up on a search for every one. This is ridiculous…a hashtag should only be the subject, genre or emotion behind a post. So saying “I #found the #best #vegetarian #pizza #recipe ever!” is not at all what you should be going for. However, you could say “I found the best #vegetarian pizza recipe ever! #yum” and it would be fine.
- The Bad: Hashtag hijackers will take random hashtags that have gained popularity or are trending and use them to piggy back for views. Their tweet has nothing to do with the hashtag itself, and it causes problems for the original person who penned a specific keyword.
- The Good: Feel free to use a hashtag that has gained popularity. Even if the actual meaning of your tweet is slightly different in context. Just be aware of the purpose to the tag, and don’t swipe it in a desperate attempt to become visible. It makes you look like a spammer, and it is bad twitequette.
Hashtags should have a purpose:
- The Bad: Being at a special event can be exciting, and tweeting about it is a great way to share the experience with others who are both there and couldn’t make it themselves. Using the hashtag too often and without purpose, however, is never appreciated.
- The Good: Avoid flooding your Twitter feed with updates using the hashtag, even if you are continuously tweeting about it. Instead, save the hashtag for special tweets or more important updates, and refrain from using it on others. The only exception is if you are holding a live chat during an event or a Twitter chat, in which case you need your own hashtag anyway.
Conclusion
We should all be using hashtags regularly, both on and off Twitter where relevant. But we should be using them in the right way, otherwise the whole process is counterproductive and potentially harmful to your social media efforts. No one likes an impolite or aggressive hashtagger.
Luckily, it isn’t that difficult to avoid the worst offenses, and most others can be forgiven. Follow the advice above and you should be just fine.
Have some tips on using hashtags correctly? Let us know in the comments.
Image Credits: tweet face, bethoven hashtag, hashtag bracelet.
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Starting to use twitter for my company and want some best practices on what works and what doesnt?
Thanks!
Best group of suggestions gets my points!
I have a Windows 8 laptop with Word 2013 and have recently (four days ago) deleted two Winword 2013 files from my Documents folder in my libraries by sending them to Recycle Bin and then deleting them permanently from there as well. Now, I want them back. So, I wonder:
– Is it possible to recover them or have I destroyed them forever so that I should give up on them?
– If it is indeed possible, how does one do it?
My knowledge and understanding of computers is severely limited, so I am very perplexed by my problem. I am hoping someone will guide me to a solution. Presuming it’s possible to recover the files because the computer doesn’t erase erased files completely until it runs out of space (or so I gather), which is not the case with my laptop, I have no clue how to do it. I have made some futile attempts, though:
– I tried the searching device that one activates on the right side of the screen by holding the mouse in the top right corner and then typed in the names of the lost files in the search box, only to get no results.
– I read something about .asd files and temporary files on the Internet but have been unable to find any .asd files since I have no idea where they are supposed to be (so it is possible that they exist) and have only found useless temporary files (again, possibly because I didn’t look in the correct folders within the temporary files folder, found the wrong temporary files folder or failed to recognize something as important because it was named with a weird series of numbers and letters or something such).
– I have read something about opening Task Manager, closing all Winword operations, and then opening Winword hoping to see some automatically recovered files, presumably the ones I have deleted, but I can’t see anything from Winword running in the Task Manager and I don’t see why there would be any automatically recovered files since the files I deleted were saved and unaltered until they were deleted.
– I have Command Prompt (CMD) and I know that it can be used for locating files, but I have no idea how to use it because one needs to know various commands by heart, all of which appear to me as gibberish made of letters and additional symbols. Perhaps if I knew what to type into Command Prompt, I could find the files, though perhaps there is now way to search for deleted files this way.
– I tried downloading Restoration to recover the files but I couldn’t even work it.
– Finally, I have downloaded Pandora Recovery based on some advice I have read on various forums. This has been my most successful attempt, but still fruitless. Pandora Recovery managed to locate the deleted files for me and I have extracted/recovered them to a USB in .doc form, i.e. having the file type “Microsoft Word 97 – 2003 Document”. For some reason, their names have been somewhat altered and I have found more files than I had or have erased. Namely, the two files I erased were called “A naplóm 1” and “A naplóm 2”. I have so far found about twenty files called “J – A naplóm (###…)”, where the hashtags represent an apparently arbitrary series of numbers. Presumably, there are twenty files because may previous versions of the files have also been recovered, which is probable, since the recovered files have similar sizes, differing by several KB. However, I can’t open any of these files because Winword tells me the file type is unsupported. That makes no sense to me because the recovered files have the extension .doc and I definitely have a function WinWord 2013 to open such files with, as I easily verify when opening any of my other .doc files from my libraries. The files have been encrypted with a password, if that is of any significance, but I know the password and keep entering it. I intentionally put in a wrong password to see what would happen, and I got a prompt that the password was wrong and not that the file type was unsupported. Therefore, I don’t think the encryption is of any signficance. I have tried to alternatively open these lost files using NotePad and TextPad, but both programs produced a long mess of letters, numbers and additional symbols, apparently completely arbitrary. Perhaps they are some sort of code which can be converted to the original letter text, but I have no idea if that could be so and how it could be converted if it is indeed a code.
P.S. I have not tried to open every single recovered file and the program is still recovering files (there are apparently 4 hours remaining), so maybe one of them will actually open without any such problems. I don’t think it likely, though.
P.P.S. Although I opened the files with WinWord 2013 on my laptop, the file type of the lost files was given as “Microsoft Word 97 – 2003 Document” because my laptop is new and most of my files on it come from my previous laptop, which was Windows XP and had Microsoft Office 2003. I convert all new files I create here to 2003 formats as well.
I’m almost 18 and I started in a new school this year. I’m having a hard time getting to know my classmates, because I am a little reserved and introverted and easily sense when I’m with people who aren’t “pure hearted”. It’s very obvious, especially on fb and other social medias, that people really try to flatter each other with cute girly comments and hearts on each others pics or doing “cool” cheeky comments with hashtags and stuff, which I guess is a way to become accepted, and gain respect from others in school.
I have talked with some of my classmates though, and alot of them seem ok, there’s just one thing: they really like talking sh*t about other people, especially some of the other classmates or just laughing or making weird faces behind people’s backs.
The funny thing is that they’re all really polishing their halos, and trying to seem better than others, in- and outside class. One of my classmates who was obviously dis-liked by the others (they even told me), moved to another school and then one of the classmates wrote as a public comment that “we’re all going to miss her so much” followed up by hearts and alot of likes from the other back talkers. I was very provoked by that, due to the fact that it’s immature and fake. I really wanted to comment on it and seriously humiliate that girl, but I’m sure that it would also ruin my reputation in class (maybe even a big part of the school). I’m going to be in this school for quite some time.
What should I do? Just mind my own business and stay out of it, even though I have to witness it, or should I say something, even though it could backfire?
A few days ago, I posted on my Twitter, “So many princess gowns/prom dresses on the school Facebook page #pokerface”. But I didn’t mean it in a bad way when I put in the hashtag #pokerface. I only put that because my own prom dress was way more casual and I thought it couldn’t compare to the gorgeous gowns everyone was going to get. Then this girl who used to be my friend found this offensive and subtweeted me “If you’re going to talk **** about people, back it up. You look like a pussy”. I was VERY offended by this because she took it the wrong way and it wasn’t even her business since she’s not my friend anymore. So today, I subtweeted back to her, “You must be spending your time very wisely looking for drama and assuming things in a one-sided opinion on TWITTER. Really, how pathetic.” I was so angry that she called me that when she could have just ignored it. I didn’t want to call her a name back because that would make me the same as her. But was I right to subtweet her this so she could stop being so damn dramatic about everything?
I’m graduating this year and in our yearbook, each senior has to pick some “last words” and i’m super stumped! i would preferably like to say something funny, but any ideas would do. It can literally be anything- a quote, a funny saying, some kids even put hashtags :p
I went to log on to my Twitter account and all the settings of Twitter changed to the ones like my mobile account. My Twitter layout on the computer looks exactly like my mobile app and I need help changing it! Help!
I use my Instagram account for business! Just recently I noticed I wasn’t getting any notifications and I was logged out. So I try to log back in and it said that My account has been disabled due to violation of the policy…. From time to time I like peoples pictures under a certain hashtag and tell them to check out my stuff! It’s not like I’m a bot spamming people! Is there a way I can get my account back! I feel like I’ve done nothing wrong.. I’m 8k deep in followers! I need a resolution asap!
A few days ago, I posted on my Twitter, “So many princess gowns/prom dresses on the school Facebook page #pokerface”. But I didn’t mean it in a bad way when I put in the hashtag #pokerface. I only put that because my own prom dress was way more casual and I thought it couldn’t compare to the gorgeous gowns everyone was going to get. Then this girl who used to be my friend found this offensive and subtweeted me “If you’re going to talk shit about people, back it up. You look like a pussy”. I was VERY offended by this because she took it the wrong way and it wasn’t even her business since she’s not my friend anymore. So today, I subtweeted back to her, “You must be spending your time very wisely looking for drama and assuming things in a one-sided opinion on TWITTER. Really, how pathetic.” I was so angry that she called me that when she could have just ignored it. I didn’t want to call her a name back because that would make me the same as her. But was I right to subtweet her this so she could stop being so damn dramatic about everything?
I don’t want to use them the wrong way. Examples would be helpful.
Okay, so I’m now in year 11 at high school, and I’ve known this girl since year 7; been best friends ever since. However the past 9-10 months I’ve just not been able to shake the feeling of repulsion. She insults random people by yelling across the street at kids saying ‘Ya chav! HAHAHA’ and ‘What is wrong with you? Why would you wear THAT?!’ etc. (you get the idea). She is attention seeking to he point where she cuts herself and sits in class completely showing them off. I do it, because I actually have problems, and so i sit there with sleeves and wear trousers in p.e. She uses all of her ‘friends’ – bitching about us behind all our backs, and wondering why people start going quite/sad/ignoring her. She knows little about feelings basically. She’s a user for her own ‘happiness’ and destroys people. The big one that pisses me of more than anything, and that is her being a hypocrite. For about a year now, me and her have developed into our different styles. Hers being emo and mine being slightly gothic; and for that we get names thrown at us, rocks thrown and half chewed sweets hurled into my hair. She has (for as long as I can remember) complained and gotten seriously annoyed when she gets called an ’emo’ or a ‘scene kid’. Personally, I don’t care what people think, it they want to call me a goth, then fine, I don’t care, I chose to be this way therefore I shall be. The thing is, recently, after her major stress for years that she ‘isn’t’ like that, she goes onto instagram, and posts pictures of herself with the hashtags of ‘#scene #scenekid #scenegirl #emo #emofigureskater’. It shouldn’t bother me but it does. I know if who ever reads, this thinks I’m just being pathetic then I know it must seem like that, but to me, I just can’t take her snobbery anymore! I have to see her every morning for tutor, for every math, biology, chemistry, physics, enlish, p.e, p.s.e lessons, at lunch and break, and I try and be calm, but my god is it hard.
Yesterday, when me and my boyfriend were walking home with the rest of our group following us, she said ‘I don’t like being ditched on fridays just because people stay in and have sex’. I turned around and saw her smiling, so when we reached the shop at the end of the road, my other friend asked me ‘you out tonight?’ and so I said ‘no sorry, but we’re not having sex’. *explosion*
She exploded in aggression, shouting, moaning, complaining, being a total bitch basically and so I just walked into the shop. Later when we were all going our different ways, she did it again yelling at me and storming off up the hill.
I have to see her everyday for at last two more years, (I plan on going to sixth form), so…. Please! Someone! Help 🙁 Tell me what to do in this situation, anything will be helpful, many thanks 🙁
saeedah – Thankyou, I’m going to have to aren’t I, it’s the only way out 🙁 Thank you for your advice x
shannon – again, thankyou, I will and thank you also for the advice on self harm, the pillow thing and butterflies sound like a good plan :/ stay strong x
Free and quick instagram followers? Please help ASAP. thanks a lot guys
For example the @ sign is produced when shift and 2 is pressed instead of the key where the @ sign is marked on the laptop. So the @sign key produces ” instead. The 3 key produces a hashtag where it should a pound sign and so on.
Is there a way to fix this?
Not really a question but I kind of need to rant lol sorry.
So my dad got divorced lets say 1 month ago and he met this girl online 3 months ago. They have been “courting” for like 4 weeks and she just a bit** in general. My first issue here is that I think its waaaaay too soon. I mean who starts dating literally a week after being divorced and married for years. My second problem is her kids. She has 2 sons, and 1 daughter. The oldest is 15 and hes just ew. He looks at people in a very perverted way and he doesnt talk much which just adds to his creepiness. Her other son is 7 and I swear to God he throws tantrums like a 2 year old on steriods and crack. He literally screams and kicks and damages things including his mother. He costed us $100 in repair damages to the rental car we were driving. Her daughter, who is 12 is the most annoying thing on the face of this earth. She says “Hashtag yolo hashtag swag hashtag for days” and SHE WILL NOT SHUT UP. She also cries for like no reason at all. No reason. None. UGH AND SHE WONT STOP TEXTING MEEEEE. Another thing is she lives on Oahu and we live on Maui and let me tell you the flights are super expensive and he goes there like evey week. Did I mention he just got out of a extremely expensive divorce. He spends all this money and she doesnt even bat an eye. She acts like there is this never ending supply of money. THERE ISNT. His recent ex-wife and my recent ex-stepmother was horrible. She was abusive and a gold digger and there wasnt a damn thing I could do about it. Everyone I do is wrong and that is why I am saving up money to move out of this country and far, far, FAR away from my family. And everytime I try to bring up the fact that I dont think it is a good idea to ask someone to marry them after 3 moNTHS OF KNOWING THEM, its my fault im a horrible child and I need counseling. I am so pissed off and I hate her and I hate her stupid kids and her car and everything about her she is stealing my dad and she needs to go die in a hole that leads staright down to hell
They’re supposedly getting back together. Many articles were saying how they started a hashtag (#JonasBrothers2012) so that hinted that they were getting back together. Then they played in NYC, and now they’re having a 2013 World Tour and releasing a new album.
I don’t know how I feel about it. I was 8 when they were really popular, but now all the girls that loved them are 15, 16, 17.. We’re a lot older now and they may not have as many fans as they think they still have. Also, One Direction is big right now, and I don’t think another boy band would do too good right now.
What are your thoughts?
Do you think they should come back?
Were you ever a fan, and how were you then (2007) and how old are you now?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onjKcjlCb-A
I have this new account and I have (for the past couple of days) gone onto popular hashtags and put f4f or if you follow me I will like you pics. My friend made her account at the same time and she has been doing the same …. The last night this message popped up saying I was temporarily blocked because I was going too fast and that they are looking out for the community … Now it won’t let me comment on and pics but I lt will let me post and like … How long will it be for this message to go because I keep trying to comment and it always pops up …. How long will it take to in block me … Also is there any way of complaining because I wasn’t doing anything Wrong .. I wasn’t using bad language or aggressive language so I don’t know why it’s popped up and it’s annoying … How long will It take ??
I make sure the app is completely up to date (I’ve even tried re-installing it once – made no difference) but I’m still experiencing most of the same glitches from the original version. The main problem is the sound never syncs up with the video. It either gets off by half a second or the sound will continue to record after I’ve stopped taking video (ie, the clip will be <.5 seconds but the sound goes 1-2 seconds). Also, the last clip tends to get either cut off early or sped up, even though when I recorded it was fully within the 6 second time limit. It doesn't glitch at all while I'm recording, nor does the vine change before or after I post it, so I know it's messing up during the rendering process. I use a (fairly new) Galaxy S3, so I know it's not my phone's processing power that's causing the issue either (the glitches occur regardless of whether or not I have other apps open, too). Is anyone else experiencing this? Better yet, has anyone figured out a way to fix this? Or must I just wait for future app updates…
Besides those main issues, I can't find anywhere in the app to search for specific users or hashtags, nor can I connect my account to Facebook. Is this something wrong with my app specifically or just features that haven't made it to Android yet?
I’m really worried about someone who is acting really out of control. I’ll start by saying that she is my crush, and we’re on good terms, but always at a certain distance. She’s 18 and has been clubbing since turning that age. She’s also into stimulants and posting risque selfies online. I think her behavior is attention-seeking, but I don’t know how far she goes. That’s her business of course. However, after a series of sexually suggestive (pretty far actually) photos, she just uploaded a nude photo with herself barely covered, with a drug-related hashtag to top it off. I seriously feel inclined to tell her she’s really off her rocker and going down the wrong path, not in those words of course. I know and sincerely hope this is all just an elaborate form of self-expression and that she’s smart enough to get out of trouble and harm’s way, but I’m not that naive, or judgmental, for that matter. I’m legitimately concerned she’s going to mess up her life. I practically did the same thing that age and in those years, so I really don’t want her to risk that, and even burn her bridges.
I sincerely ask is this grounds enough for me to try and talk to her about my misgivings and her behavior? I don’t even care about my romantic feelings compared what might happen to her. One more thing, the look in her eyes is almost like a cry for help. I don’t know why that’s what it’s like, a cry for help.
A few days ago, I posted on my Twitter, “So many princess gowns/prom dresses on the school Facebook page #pokerface”. But I didn’t mean it in a bad way when I put in the hashtag #pokerface. I only put that because my own prom dress was way more casual and I thought it couldn’t compare to the gorgeous gowns everyone was going to get. Then this girl who used to be my friend found this offensive and subtweeted me “If you’re going to talk **** about people, back it up. You look like a pussy”. I was VERY offended by this because she took it the wrong way and it wasn’t even her business since she’s not my friend anymore. So today, I subtweeted back to her, “You must be spending your time very wisely looking for drama and assuming things in a one-sided opinion on TWITTER. Really, how pathetic.” I was so angry that she called me that when she could have just ignored it. I didn’t want to call her a name back because that would make me the same as her. But was I right to subtweet her this so she could stop being so damn dramatic about everything?
My friend has been pretty down lately and he’s a young musician, and I think it’d really cheer him up if his music got a little more notoriety. Not even a lot, just a few hundred views on his videos or something. Is there a good way to help him with this? Like websites to use or something, or a convenient way of sharing that won’t annoy people?
(I really don’t wanna post on famous Youtube videos like people do where they try and convince people that they are “like” another band and that you should check, because everyone hates those people and just gets annoyed at them and flames their videos.)
Some help would be nice from past amateur musicians who have been in his position. :]
(I posted this in the wrong section, so I’m reposting. Woopsies. xD)
My bf Kyle broke up with me few months ago and I was devestated.My ex boyfriend was and still is my bestfriend.My best girl friend Lacie me and Kyle are all best friends and have been since around 5th grade.We are 16 now.Lacie told me a few weeks ago that she liked kyle and asked me if I was okay with that and I told her yes thats fine.I never actually thought that they would end up dating.Kyle also talked to me and was like are you okay with us dating? I told him yes because I didnt want to get in the way of anything and I was happy for them.Tonight I was on instagram and Lacie posted a picture of her and him kissing with hashtags like my love, love him, and best boyfriend.I couldnt take it and put my phone down and started crying.I said I was okay with everything but I think I lied to myself.Im not.What do I do?
Alright here goes. I’m 15 years old, in grade 10. I had a happy childhood, but since grade 8, I’ve been thinking of commiting suicide and ending my pathetic life.
Over the past 2 years my life has been consistently getting worse. Everything I do, I fail at, either in the short or long run. I get terrible grades in school, even though I want to go to university to study business, or go to film school. But I never end up getting the marks I need, and I’m running out of time.
I’m also bullied at school, by three people in particular, but other people pile on. Lets call them Kevin, Connor, and Daniel, and my life is being ruined.
Kevin is ridiculous. He’s not popular at ALL. He has no friends, but he thinks hes the ****. People laugh at what he says, but they laugh at him, but he doesnt realize that, and keeps on going “YEEEEEEEE GARY CH CH CH HASHTAG (RANDOM GIRLS NAME HERE) EVERY ******* DAY. That among other things, and he wont stop.
Then there’s Daniel. He’s my “friend”, but cares so much about popularity that he talks about me every day in class, laughs at me, imitates me badly, punches me, and annoys me. I don’t like him, but if I lose him as a friend, I wont have many left. And it wont help, he’ll keep on doing it.
Then Connor, the worst of the three. I have 4 out of 8 classes with him, and whenever he sees me do something he can consider stupid or funny, he doesnt let it go, ever. I hear him talk about how much of a ****** I am, even in the classes we have together, as if I’m not even there. He punches me, lowers my self esteem in any way he can think up, and the bad thing is, unlike the other two, he’s getting straight A’s, so I can’t think that “oh well it’s not like hes going anywhere in life anyways”
Other people pile on too whenever one of those three start up.
Now possibly the worst part is, my brother. My horrible brother. First off, he has a girlfriend (a hot one actually), he has a lot of close friends unlike I do, getting straight A’s in school, our family always talks about how much they love him. None of those qualities apply to me. I’m the exact opposite in every way. And he’s better than me in everything, and he likes to show that off. He treats me like I’m nothing. Always states how I’m never going to go far in life (I want to produce, direct, and write screenplays of horror movies), he punches me every day even when my dad yells at him to not do it, he annoys me, always makes me feel stupid, and at the end of the day I always go to bed feeling angry. And he thinks he’s a great brother. After the **** I take in school, it be nice to go home and forget about that, but I can’t.
HELP ME, because this might be the end.
I just got an Asus Windows 8 for Christmas this morning–it’s really awesome but has a couple of problems with the keyboard:
First of all, the F10, F11, and F12 buttons don’t seem to be working. (They are to Mute, Turn Volume Down, and Turn Volume Up, respectively) and I have to actually touch the stupid sound button on the screen to change it!
The second thing is to me the most important: The @ and ” buttons are switched–when I type SHIFT+2 it gives me quotation marks and when I type SHIFT+’ it gives me the At symbol. This really annoys me. A lot.
Thirdly, when I try to press the hashtag (pound) key, this is what it gives me: £ Isn’t that like the British monetary unit or something?
Is there any way to change this? PLEASE HELP!!!!!! 🙁 🙁 🙁
I know I sound like an unsophisticated monkey right now but I just got a twitter account and have no idea wtf I’m doing. If I tweet on a persons page can they see it? I know it appears in my tweets but I want to know if they can see it. I’m so confused
Let me explain what happened.
Esurance was hosting a competition earlier this week to win $1.5 million on twitter. To enter, all you had to do was tweet a hash tag, and by the end of the competition winners would be randomly selected. Those winners would be notified by direct message.
Shortly after the competition ended, Esurance followed 4 people who tweeted the hashtag and it was believed that one of these people were the winner and 3 others were alternates. All but 1 person responded — the other 3 people claimed they didn’t receive a message and likely did not win. This one person however apparently stepped away for several hours and given what the others said, it seemed as though he was the winner. But there’s a problem…
Esurance specifically states: Winner will be notified that he/she may have won a prize by direct Twitter message (an “Unofficial Winner Notification”) to his/her Twitter account as provided to Sponsor on or about February 4, 2014 at 2:45am PT and must reply to such message via Direct Message to @Esurance no later than 1:00pm PT on that same day. […] In the event of noncompliance with these requirements, the prize may be forfeited in Sponsor’s sole discretion. The Affidavit is subject to verification by Sponsor.
I’d hate for anyone to lose out on this opportunity, so stupidly I tried to find out more about the guy using his twitter information (he put his name). Within a minute, I found his college e-mail to which I e-mailed him letting him know that he was being followed and that there was a chance he was the winner.
But then I took things a bit far, I figured he wouldn’t see the message in time. So using white pages, I called his house and his mom answered. I explained the situation and explained that her son had the chance of winning this prize and that she should get in touch with her son asap to respond before the deadline. I advised her to tell her son to check his twitter and his e-mail to see what I sent him.
—
Apparently, I must have not been clear enough (I admit I was nervous making that call, ..it was weird). But I did make it a point to clarify that he MAY be a winner. She took it as he was a winner and I guess relayed this to her son.
Anyways, about two hours later, I receive a phone call — “Hello — goes quiet” …. silence …I hear a few beeps. I hang up.
A minute after, a call back. “Hello?” We basically talked back and fourth about my exchange with his mom earlier. He had a few questions and concerns about how I got ahold of his information (understandable) and what my motive was. ALL THE WHILE, I could hear beeps in the background, so it’s clear I was being recorded. He then told me I was committing fraud and started spewing some law language about some law I was breaking. I freaked out — I told him I had to step outside for a moment — then I asked what did he mean. I tried clarifying that I was only trying to help and I was apologetic but he still seems infuriated.
I’m worried I put myself in a serious legal situation. He has my cell phone number and my e-mail. He told me what city I was based in (I’m guessing by my area code) and I confirmed with him that he was correct. I’m afraid cops will come knocking at my door or something. I didn’t mean any harm and was trying to help. Now I’m worried that they are going to pursue this both with Esurance and local law enforcement.
I’m like having an anxiety attack.
I recently sent this e-mail:
I just want to apologize again for any confusion and to clear up what happened exactly, and how and why I tried to reach out to you.
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I decided to check my twitter feed this morning and noticed that Esurion was following 4 people from last night, your twitter account being one of them.
Of the 4 people that were being followed, none of them received any direct message from Esurion based on their tweets, so I assumed that you may have been the possible winner. The deadline to respond according to their rules was 1 PM PST — anyone who did not respond would be disqualified from winning. This is what their rules state (http://www2.esurance.com/pdf/winbigrules.pdf):
Winner will be notified that he/she may have won a prize by direct Twitter message (an “Unofficial Winner Notification”) to his/her Twitter account as provided to Sponsor on or about February 4, 2014 at 2:45am PT and must reply to such message via Direct Message to @Esurance no later than
1:00pm PT on that same day. […] In the event of noncompliance with these requirements, the prize may be forfeited in Sponsor’s sole discretion. The Affidavit is subject to verification by Sponsor.
At this point, I should have not involved myself — but I was thinking with my heart and not my brain. I figured if I was in your position, I would want someone to tell me, so I tried to reach out to you. By googling your name, I was able to come across your college e-mail and at first, sent you an e-mail letting you know about the situation. I figured there was a chance you wouldn’t read the e-mail in time, so in the moment, I tried to reach out to you directly. Using white pages, I came across a number — which as it turned out, happened to be your mom. When I spoke with your mom, perhaps I wasn’t clear, but I basically explained to her you entered a competition on twitter and that the deadline for the competition was 1 PM — and there was a possibility you could be one o
of the chosen candidates.
In hindsight, I realize how this can all be very confusing and I did not think things through. It was only until after your phone call that I realized the mistake I made. I didn’t expect to be accused of fraud or for anyone to be upset. But I realize now that I shouldn’t have involved myself at all. I was only trying to help and I’m sorry for any confusion or misunderstanding I may have caused you and your mom. I honestly feel terrible.
I wish you the best of luck.
I want to make a twitter layout for an english project–different characters of a book tweeting each other. Is there a place I can get one easily or should I just make a bunch of different accounts?
So today I was on Twitter and yes, I am a Directioner and we were all watching the live tour dvd with the boys. There was a trending topic ‘#1DVDWatchParty’ and because so many people were tweeting about it, Twitter decided to suspended around 400,000 Directioners. I think this is absolutely ridiculous! And just 2 minutes before I got suspended LIAM PAYNE FOLLOWED ME! I’ve been trying to get that boy to follow me for FOREVER, and when he finally does, Twitter suspends me. I was sooo angry, and I’m still angry, it just isn’t fair. I didn’t even tweet that hashtag a lot, probably around 10 times max. Twitter can’t just suspend people like that right?
Anyway, my question is, is there a way I’m able to get my account back? I had 1456 followers and over 3000 tweets and now everything is gone. I’m still able to log into my account and see my tweets, but I can’t see my followers, the people I’m following, or updated tweets from people. I’ve already send Twitter around 8 emails explaining my situation, and I’ve received the automatic email telling me to check the Basic guidelines and review the twitter rules, and I’ve done so.
Has your account ever gotten suspended? If so, were you able to get it back? How long did it take? I’d heard of people that have gotten suspended and it took around 3-5 days..and other people have been waiting a month or so. I really want my account back, it’s the only way I can support and keep up to date with the boys. I’ve also made sooo many new friends on there and now I can’t talk to any of them.
Please help me, and don’t judge me on the fact that I like One Direction, I’m simply asking for help on my suspended account.
I dont freaking care about your opinions on One Direction..all I want is a simple explanation on how to get my suspended account back. Why can’t you people ever give me a f*cking straight answer?!