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Impersonation is the act of wantedly taking on the identity of another person for personal gain or with intention to damage a person’s character , image or reputation .Silly and psychotic as it sounds , it is really dangerous both on twitter and in the real world . On twitter it is very easy impersonate anyone , all you need is to know their name and get your hands on a decent photo of them . You can then create an id on twitter and start tweeting as them . Scared now ? Me too ! Read on . Let us discuss some relevant points on this really important topic today

1. Impersonation affects only celebrities : This is a common misconception . No , it can affect you too , it is really easy to create another handle that sounds like like yours and start tweeting just like you . Then the onus would be on you to prove that you are you . That can be cagey and dicey at the same time .So be on the guard all the time . One good practice is when you change handles , block the older one , or someone will squat on it and confuse your friends. Or worse they an use the old one to make potentially venomous and damaging tweets that will eventually hurt you .Celebrities pay a higher price for it , but it damages everyone just about the same extent in relative degree
2. Impersonation is flattery : Maybe in the real world or in a reality TV show , definitely not on twitter. There are many movie stars and other famous personalities who will vouch for the fact that it does damage and nothing else. Think of this example , someone impersonates you and tweets nonsense about your boss’s wife and ensures that your boss can see it in his time-line . Or worse , they tweet about a fling and your wife sees the tweet . That can hurt ! So when you see an impersonator swat them right away . It is not flattery by any stretch of that word
3. Twitter is free and anyone can be me : Nope , twitter is free alright , but anyone can’t be you . If you can prove to twitter than you are you and the other is an impostor , twitter will promptly knock the impersonator and support your legal rights over the impostor to sue for damages
4. Twitter is against ALL impersonation : Nope , think again ! Parody impersonation , or impersonation with stated intent and purpose to criticize or make fun of a popular personality is allowed as long as it states clearly in the bio that it is a fake account intended for that . There are quite a few of them around a pretty popular too (yeah , there is one for Chuck Norris too )

So what if want to report impersonation ?

In order to investigate impersonation, twitter needs the following information filed in the twitter web support as a ticket :

• Username of the person impersonating you (or the URL of their profile page):
• Your First and Last Name:
• Your Twitter username (if you have one):
• Address:
• Phone:

Please let twitter know if you would like to remove the impersonation with no interest in using Twitter, or if you are reporting the impersonation because you’d like to use Twitter with your own name.

If you are not the person involved in the impersonation, but are legally authorized to act their behalf, please include the information above in addition this information:

• Name:
• Company name:
• Title:
• Phone:
• Fax:
• Company domain address:
• Company domain email address:
• Legal relationship to the person/entity involved:

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