Wait, one more- and again. That about does it. Five times. I started an account to talk about #Hostess and politics in general. My basic point is to spread the word on the Hostess pension theft. It is @bluebarnstormer, not that you can follow it.
I have been retweeting articles and blog posts about the Hostess issue, including people's kind words. I have also been replying to conservative pundits who post falsehoods by pointing out what they got wrong. And I have replied sarcastically to a few vicious comments here and there. I have been mostly polite but often in 140 characters you sound pointed, but I was not rude to anyone. In fact, as far as rudeness is concerned, you can't compare anything I have said to the comments of anyone I replied to. I am sure you can imagine.
I would post some examples for you here but I can't read my tweets. Wanna guess why?
I am not a Twitter newbie. My account for this topic is, but I have managed a brewing and bluegrass account (@BarnyardBeer) for over 4 years. I have worked hard over the years to make Twitter a fun and enjoyable environment. For me, my followers, and by extension Twitter itself. I love it. I have learned as much about brewing and bluegrass on Twitter as I have anywhere else. And I have never been suspended on that account. I went 1389 tweets without getting suspended. Make that 1390.
I have received no accurate explanation for why I have been suspended on my new account. Every time it happens I follow the links and read the rules yet again looking for something to explain it. Nothing in their reasoning has anything to do with me. It warns me not to use automatic reply, or automatic retweets, or use inappropriate or threatening language. They even tell you how many retweets an hour is acceptable. I have come no where near the limits.
It is a standard automatic response that has nothing to do with my problem. How's that for irony, being told not to auto reply by an auto reply. Last time I was caught in a circular email that would just tell me to do the same thing over and over and then start me back at the beginning.
The first time I was suspended the last INCOMING message to me had '#blocked' in it. Was that all it took? Can accounts be suspended because other users complain? Or use the #blocked? Without an investigation into the complaints? Is it an automatic system that suspends accounts without review? None of these questions are answered on their site and yet I am still suspended. If that is all it takes to get suspended then it would be Twitters responsibility to fix this problem.
Of course, I don't even know what the problem is to even try to fix. There is no general email to a human being that I can find. Their form email guarantees that no one is actually checking to see if there is a unique situation here. Even if I get unsuspended I will have no method of preventing it from happening again. Even if it is a behavior that I am doing, if they don't tell me, how can I fix it. This isn't about conspiracies, I just want it to work.
I feel that I have lost a lot of opportunities to participate in the Twitterverse over the last few weeks and I don't know what to do about it. With my stated goal of getting the word out about the Hostess pension theft, this has been incredibly frustrating. If you have advice or knowledge PLEASE put it in the comments. And no, I don't want to change my username.
I still love you Twitter, please come back to me.
Also, I would love to follow you so if you put your handle in the comments I will hunt you down if I am ever allowed back on.