In 2008 I got a sweet Twitter handle that was 4 characters. Like a dumb dumb I used my EDU address to make it. I stopped using it for a few years and forgot all about it. A few months ago I remembered it and I could not remember the password.
I contacted Twitter support and asked if there was anything that could be done because a 4 character account is pretty valuable now and I checked & nobody was using it (not hacked or stolen!). They shut me down and told me there are no other verification methods besides email and phone.
So then I contacted my alma mater and got in touch with the IT department and asked if they could open my old inbox for me. They did reinstate my online account and were pretty cool about it however they could not register me with their email service unless I was registered in a class.
I actually considered registering for a class in the spring to get it back lol
So then I spent about a month guessing my old password in 4 try intervals everyday. I got nothing!! No hits. Then I had an idea.
I went on archive.org to the way back machine and looked at a snapshot of the Twitter FAQ from February of 2008 and lo and behold there was the password requirements. It was only 6 characters (no caps, letters, symbols). So I went back and started retrying all the typical passwords I used but in 6 character combinations only with no caps. Boom. On the third try I got it.
I changed my associated email, changed to a long randomized password, turned 2fA on and then I went through and deleted all my tweets from way back save a few. I was a lot less professional back then and I use my real name so I wanted to clean it up. I got it back!
So that’s my epic Twitter tale. I wanted to brag and tell someone who might actually care. I’m happy to provide my handle if anyone wants to follow me. My feed is basically tech talk and baseball. Thanks!
