Banned From Twitter
My Twitter account is banned and I have no idea why.
Update at bottom
I have in a support ticket to get it unbanned. While I’m waiting for that, allow me to point out that whoever is in charge of the layout of the help site over there at Twitter is a moron.
The link on the suspended message takes me to a page explaining why an account might be suspended and how to contest it. That’s fine.
What is not fine is that, when you hit the link to log into your Twitter account, it redirects you away from that suspended page. If you go back, you’re automatically logged out again. It’s an endless loop of fail.
I go to the home page of the help site and look for a way to submit a ticket.
And look.
And look…
Umm… I couldn’t find one?
I had a vague memory of reading about a problem with the help page over at Twittercism.com, so I went over there and searched for the article. When I found it and read it, my jaw dropped in amazement.
To get to the form to submit a ticket, you have to click a link. The link is buried in the middle of a huge wall of text on the help site’s main page. WTF?
I submitted my ticket as politely as I could manage:
“My account is suspended. I can’t imagine why. Please unlock it.”
And then it was automatically closed as “Solved.”
Huh?
Tickets are closed automatically and I guess they stay that way until you make a comment on them. Apparently, that reopens it.
I suppose the point of all this is a not-so-subtle way of saying “fuck off” to anyone looking for support. I bet it’s a fine way of keeping the help queue clear.
After realizing all this, I made a comment to reopen the ticket and this time I wasn’t so polite:
Great, suspend me for no reason, bury the link to submit a help ticket in a wall of text, then automatically close it? Are you people for real?
STATUS: NOT SOLVED
So now I wait and wonder why in the hell I was suspended to begin with. If you never hear from me again on Twitter, you know why.
Update:
I’m back, at least for now. It didn’t take them long at all to remove the suspension. About 90 minutes, plus the 30 minutes I spent trying to figure out what was going on and submit the ticket.
I guess that’s the advantage of making it difficult to file a help ticket – less waiting for those who figure it out.
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Rooker's Soapbox 
Jake Collyer said,
July 15, 2009 at 8:22 PM
That’s stupid. Its confusing enough as to why exactly you got suspended. The least they could do is make support visible.
Rooker said,
July 15, 2009 at 9:01 PM
That reminds me, I closed the ticket myself and completely forgot to ask why I was banned to begin with. Oh well.
sekanblogger said,
July 24, 2009 at 7:21 PM
They 86’d a buttload of spammers on twitter today.
I certainly have no problem with that.
So far the only thing I’ve found it usefull for is following Tommy xtopher when he goes to the press conferences.
Aetheist huh?
I must be an oddball, I claim some higher power but don’t buy into any of the dogma.
Rooker said,
July 25, 2009 at 6:42 PM
I don’t mind being whacked with the banhammer by accident, as long as I can get it reversed.
The way they handle their help system is exactly the opposite of how it should be done. I’m sure it cuts down on the size of the queue though.