Twitter (X) is going to take my username @sports, any ideas how I might keep it?

[pupulon9]

I’ve been a user for 16 years, since their first day of public signups. I login every day and use twitter for hours every day. I tweet more than is shown on my account (I delete tweets often).

Here’s the message they sent me:

“Hello, The user handle associated with account @Sports will be affiliated with X Corp. Accordingly, your user handle will be changed to a new user handle.

However, we appreciate your loyalty and want to minimize any inconvenience this may cause. At this time we will be changing this handle to @sportz. We have listed additional handles that you can choose from below. Just respond to this message and we can assist you in making the change.

All data associated with your prior user handle, including followers and following data, will be transferred to your new user handle.

@allsports @sportsfan (@sportslife

Please reply to this email if you have any questions. Best regards, X”

[Justsignedup]

You're fucked.

They have the ability to size it as it's not a domain or anything. So they have the legal ability to tell you to eff off.

You can try to go to court and maybe get a settlement, but talk to a lawyer first.

[JohnFen]

> You can try to go to court and maybe get a settlement, but talk to a lawyer first.

I rather suspect any lawyer will say "you're fucked". But it never hurts to ask.

[Justsignedup]

I have an identical suspicion.

[PaulHoule]

Vote with your feet. Mason, bluesky, threads, etc. Musk has to be made an example of otherwise other people will try to imitate him.

[superchroma]

Make a big fuss about how unfair this is, contact news sites, get a trending 'post' and then leave.

The only thing you can do now is add another dent and scuff in Elon's once perfect image, as opposed to going quietly. Maybe with enough damage, people will see him for the monster he is.

[ryan29]

This is the reason we need domains as handles to become the expectation. I don't want an ephemeral handle that Twitter, etc. own. I want a permanent domain that I own.

And I know domains aren't technically permanent, but they're far less risk than ephemeral handles because you actually have some rights as a registrant.

[JohnFen]

> And I know domains aren't technically permanent

I agree.

They're not technically permanent, but my primary domain name is one that I've had for over 30 years now (even surviving two instances of me forgetting to renew it), and the youngest of my other ones is 10 years old.

They aren't technically permanent, but they're more persistent than a lot of things people uncontroversially think of as permanent.

[gwbrooks]

It's not your username; it was always theirs.

[3000]

it sucks, it really does, but why is it so hard for people to understand this?

[version_five]

As someone else said, the best you can do is try and get some media attention and generate some bad press. It probably sounds more rewarding than it will be though.

Of note is how lame their offer is. Like because they "appreciate your loyalty" they'll give you some shitty adjacent handle that nobody had claimed. Realistically just tell them to fuck off, that they should be personally disgusted with themselves, and leave.

[OhMeadhbh]

I'm sure I'll be downvoted for saying this, but I sort of feel Elon Musk thrives on bad press. Someone told him one day that there's no such thing as bad press and he really took it to hart.

[version_five]

It can still affect advertising, morale, paid subscriptions, etc.

[OhMeadhbh]

I mean. It's not really yours, is it?

[dudul]

In surprised @sportz is available. They're probably taking this too from someone to give it to you :)

Anyway, as others pointed out, you can't do anything. Just tweet about it, make a fuss, and stop using Twitter.

[zimpenfish]

@sportz and @sportsfan both seem to already exist. Which makes the offering of them as alternatives even worse...

[smoldesu]

> we appreciate your loyalty

They're showing you right where to hit 'em.

[OhMeadhbh]

I honestly don't think they care. The OP's already done what they want, which is to make a stink. We all do what Musk wants by talking about him when we really should just be ignoring him.

[smoldesu]

It was a dead-end situation as soon as OP agreed to limited liability in the Twitter TOS - sure.

If you want to cause damage though, their insecurities are plain as day; they need user retention. That's why they reach out to butter-up long time users with new account offers and bespoke transitional options. This is your one chance to tell a human at Twitter you're done. That because of this situation you've been put in, you're going to abandon the platform entirely. Take it or leave it.

[OhMeadhbh]

Sure. It certainly won't help X. Maybe it will cause them to think. I think they're so far in their own world they won't notice it's all burnt down until MUCH later.

[yuppie_scum]

They just really love hat Huey Lewis album.

[__warlord__]

Leave twitter.

[cornercasechase]

Quit, tell your friends to quit, then spend time raising awareness around all/any of Musks many fraudulent statements and corrupt actions. Especially wrt TSLA.