You sign into your Twitter account. You immediately notice that you have 0 followers and you’re following 0 people. The next thing you notice is that there is a bar at the top of your web browser that says your account has been suspended. What happened?

The guys behind Twitter know that people misuse it. It’s why they have a long list of rules. Even with the long list, they have users who don’t follow the rules. It can be hard to catch everyone, so they focus on the most important ones that go against what Twitter stands for in social networking.

Following and Unfollowing a Lot of People

People use this technique to get people to follow them. Since many people reciprocate followings, it’s quite easy to get followers this way. To look like an influencer though, you can’t follow a lot of people. The process is to follow a lot of people, and then unfollow them hoping they don’t unfollow you in return.

Twitter is about social networking online, not playing a follow/unfollow game. This is why you can be suspended for doing this.

Being a Spammer

People don’t want you to contact them to advertise your services and products. When you start interrupting people’s tweets or message a lot of people with an advertisement, you can get suspended.

Using Automated Services

Twitter is about being social. You can’t be social when you have a program interacting with people.

Being Abusive

You can’t be mean to people.

Posting Malware

Posting links to malware or websites that will harm users will get you suspended quickly.

Using Hashtags and Trends Incorrectly

Some people take hashtags or trends and put a different meaning to them. This hijacks the entire idea of trends, so people are suspended for it.

You Did Nothing At All

Sometimes, Twitter makes a mistake. You may be suspended without doing any of these things or someone has hacked your account. When this happens, you simply have to let Twitter know in the same way you would if you actually did do something wrong.

How to Get Unsuspended from Twitter

At the top of your Twitter screen, click on the hyperlinked Suspended Accounts. This will take you to the suspension page.

You will need to complete a suspension report on this page. You will need to select what the report is for, the subject, and then include a description of the problem. You can then put in your name, username, email address, and if you would like, your phone number.

Within 24 hours, you will receive an automated message. This message will say that if you were suspended for following and unfollowing a lot of people, you will receive a separate email. If you didn’t get suspended for that reason, you simply need to wait.

In a day or two, you can go to Zendesk Home. This is where you will see your request for assistance. It’s where you will see the status of your request.

If you don’t see any progress being made with your request for a suspension lift, you can email them. Be polite in your email. They will consider this as they manually review your account. You should receive an email back within another 24 hours about what they have decided to do. Hopefully, they will lift the suspension and you can continue on as normal.

The average time it takes to get your account unsuspended is five days. It can take fewer or more days depending on the cause of the suspension. Try to be patient. Getting upset with the Twitter staff may end up in having your account deleted.

Have you been suspended? Let us know how the process goes in getting the suspension lifted in the comments.