How to Sign Up for Twitter Anonymously
ERICA KASPER
TECH
Twitter is a great way to get your thoughts and feelings out there in 140 characters or less. While many users like the attention that their tweets receive, other users prefer to stay anonymous to avoid personal attention or criticism. If you would like to use Twitter but would like to do so anonymously, you can take steps to protect your identity while tweeting.
1 Sign Up for Twitter With a Fake Username and Anonymous Email
To sign up for Twitter, you need a name, an email and a password. The first step to staying anonymous is to choose a fake name and use an email that is anonymous. You can create a new email address at one of the many free, Web-based email services, like Yahoo Mail and Gmail (full links in Resources). Be sure that your new email address doesn't include any personal information about you; for example, if you were born in 1996 and like lacrosse, the email account "lacrosselover1996" would give away several details that you probably don't want to share. Choose a fake name for yourself in the email account (again, don't choose something too close to your own name), and then use that fake name and email to sign up for Twitter. To protect your identity after you sign up, do not use your new email account for any other purposes, such as website sign-ups or contest registrations.
2 Use a Proxy App to Tweet Anonymously from Mobile Devices
Having an anonymous Twitter account is a start, but if you tweet from a mobile device, your location and other information might be detectable to other users. To avoid this, you can download a proxy app for your device that will mask your location while you tweet. One such app is Orbot for Android, which provides mobile anonymity and compatibility with the official Twitter app. Once you download and install Orbot (link in Resources), you can change the proxy settings in your Twitter app to "proxy host: localhost" and "proxy port: 8118" to start sending tweets privately. A similar option for Apple devices is Disconnect, which blocks websites from tracking your actions and prevents browser activity from leaving the device (link in Resources).
3 Tweet With Caution to Avoid Giving Yourself Away
Once you have a Twitter account with a fake name and email, and once you've protected your mobile tweeting with a proxy app, you may encounter your biggest obstacle to anonymous tweeting: yourself. While using your anonymous account, be very careful to avoid tweeting information that will reveal your identity. For example, if you are angry at a classmate, resist the urge to tweet with that person's Twitter handle (which will ensure that they see it) and a comment like "you made me really mad in Spanish class today." Also, try not to let the power of anonymous tweeting lead you to posting offensive, abusive and otherwise inappropriate tweets; not only is that behavior wrong, but Twitter will shut down your account, and you'll be back where you started. Keep your tweets impersonal and inoffensive to maximize anonymity.
4 Use an Anonymous Tweeting Service
If you'd like to tweet but you don't want to set up your own account, you can use an anonymous tweeting service like IncogTweet or Twalentine (links in Resources). When you visit these pages, you can enter a tweet that will be submitted to Twitter under a different username, like @incogtweet or @YourTwalentine. Please note that you cannot use these services for spam tweets or for tweets that are offensive.
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