Have you stumbled across an Instagram username which is taken but appears to be attached to an inactive profile?
There are countless reasons why an account may appear to be dormant – and they don’t all necessarily mean that the user doesn’t access their account or use the app anymore.
As a result of this, claiming an inactive username for yourself is difficult; not impossible, but certainly not a straightforward or direct process. Here are some things that you can do to claim a username…
Option 1: Buy the Username
Perhaps the easiest way to get hold of a username that you really want or need for your brand or business, is to buy it via a secondary marketplace.
The price of a username could range from a few pounds to thousands of pounds for highly sought after and incredibly recognisable usernames – with sellers knowing that the right name really can prove invaluable to businesses and brands.
Typically you will find that the individuals selling usernames were early adopters of Instagram, who have now recognised the value in their username and worked out how to sell it for a high profit.
Option 2: Contact the User Directly
Even if a username isn’t actively being marketed or advertised as “for sale”, that doesn’t mean that the holder wouldn’t be more than happy to sell it to you if you asked!
You can send a DM to a user to see if they are interested – though if you believe the account to be inactive, the chances of them responding are low.
Alternatively, you can use bio information to work out how to contact them or try searching for the username on other platforms to see if you can find another active account that they use.
Option 3: Wait!
Yes, you read that right. Accounts which have genuinely been abandoned will ultimately be deleted by Instagram, which may mean that a username will become available for use again in time.
However, keeping track of this is incredibly difficult – even knowing that most Instagram inactive account purges happen towards the end of the year. The best thing to do is to keep an eye on the account attached to your desired username, and when it disappears do what you can to try and claim the name!
Option 4: Copyright the Name
If you decide to go down a legal route, particularly if you have tried option 2 and been met with a dead end or a refusal to sell, then you might try to copyright the name.
This will usually only work if you have a business that is directly linked by name to that username and can prove to Instagram that the presence of an inactive profile is harmful to your business reputation.
Option 5: Get Creative!
If all else fails, then you can simply come up with a new variation on your ideal name which adds a few extra characters or uses a different configuration of letters and numbers to create a unique name.
This may not be ideal, but it will tide you over until the inactive account is deleted and you can quickly pick up the username that you really want!
We hope this helps! With Instagram growing virtually every day, and new users signing up and joining the app all the time, finding unique usernames is only growing more difficult. But even if your perfect name is taken, that doesn’t mean you should give up!
Make your mark on Instagram. With Twicsy, enjoy enhanced likes, followers, comments, and views.
