Most of the time, Twitter suspends accounts that are in violations of the
Twitter Rules but they’ll also suspend for investigation if the account has been hacked or compromised. Sometimes though, it’ll be a mistake on their part.
My account was locked out just for tweeting my website. Since I knew I was not breaking any Twitter Rules or performing any prohibitive behavior, here’s how I unlocked my account:
1. Filled out support form
Be sure to be courteous when filling out the description of your problem. Even if it was a mistake on Twitter’s part, your support ticket won’t go anywhere especially when it’s riddled with angry expletives or incomprehensible sentences.
2. Submit the form and wait for the reply
I submitted my appeal form and got an automated reply within 24 hours.
**They will send the reply to the email your Twitter account is registered to, so be sure you check that inbox or double-check your mail forwarding settings!**
In the reply, it mentions that if we were suspended for aggressive following behavior, we’d get a separate email. We didn’t, and plus, we’re only following about 5-10 accounts per day.
**To be ultra-safe though, I went into our account Settings, then Apps to remove any Applications that I’m not using anymore. You’d be surprised at how many apps add up!
3. If you didn’t receive a reply, check Status of the ticket
This isn’t too clear on the website, and I only stumbled upon this by accident while searching, but you can keep track of your ticket status via their
Zendesk home. If you’re already logged in, you’ll see your ticket in “Check your Existing Requests” tab.
You’ll either see a “Waiting for your reply” or “Ticket being processed” message.
If you received a “Waiting for your reply,” check your inbox immediately as they don’t copy what their response is on this page. If it says your ticket is being processed, it either means they haven’t read it yet, or are still investigating.
4. Reply back to their ResponseTo speed up the process
5. Wait for their Reply (Again)It took them another day to respond back to me
I didn’t realize that Twitter support reps had nicknames, so I was skeptical. But when I logged into my account, I did see that the suspension was lifted.
It took 2 hours for the follower and following numbers to return back to normal so there’s no need to re-follow.
It was very frustrating to wait around but at least we know that it was a mistake on their part.
If you haven’t been suspended before, take care to:
- Not follow other people aggressively (It maxes out at 2,000 per day, but just take heed in not spamming the follow button)
- Double-check what apps have access to your account and revoke unnecessary ones
- Have a strong password
Other Twitter members I’ve asked said it took 5 days to get their account back (ours took 2.5 days) so I believe the time varies depending on the severity.
Have you had your Twitter account suspended before? How long did it take to get it back?
I hope this guide was helpful! Remember to not panic and stay calm when responding back to their tickets.
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