Author: anymose

How I lost my million-dollar account and what I learned from it.

Even now, thinking about it sends chills down my spine. If I could do it again, I definitely...

This is clickbait; my tweets aren't worth a million dollars, but they're incredibly valuable to me. For someone who makes a living by writing, losing their means of survival is terrifying, especially since it's all due to such a basic mistake. This article will briefly summarize what happened, how it was resolved, and some reflections, hoping to serve as a cautionary tale for all creators, a constant reminder.

what happened

I set an age, which caused a silly error.

In order to enable the "subscription" function, I had to set my age. After setting my birth date to June 9, 1996, I was prompted to log in, but then I kept getting errors and was unable to log in.

My account is an old account I bought, registered in 2007. So when I entered 1999, it triggered the "under 13 years old at the time of registration" age restriction. Holy crap, I never expected that! If you're under 13, your account will be locked, and you'll be asked to verify it again.

In fact, for about 10 hours before I learned that I needed to re-verify, I was stuck in an error message, unable to log in and unsure of what to do. Twitter didn't offer much customer service either; the help section only provided instructions but no submission portal. I panicked then, and to make matters worse, I was on my way to Hong Kong for several important consensus events, and I also had several projects I had already collaborated on that needed to be published.

How was it solved?

I'm prepared to start from scratch; it will be painful, but I have to accept it. My WeChat official account with over 10,000 followers was also instantly suspended before. On my way to the airport, I received an email from X, officially reminding me that my account was locked due to age restrictions and that I needed to submit documents for review. If the review is successful, the following changes will occur:

‣ Posts published before age 13

‣ Posts liked before age 13

‣ Private messages sent and received before the age of 13

‣ Personal information other than username and date of birth

‣ Your saved posts, lists, and collections

These will all be deleted. Also, your following and fan counts will take 24 hours to display correctly.

Step 1

When I logged into Twitter again, I was redirected to an instructions page. At the bottom of the page, there was a "form" option. I clicked on the form and resubmitted my information. In addition to my username and email, I needed to upload a valid ID, so I uploaded my passport.

Many resources say you can submit any identity information, as long as you're an adult. Some foreigners even uploaded their mothers' IDs and got approved. Since I've already verified my creator status, I decided to be safe and uploaded my real information.

After submission, the page indicates that the process will take up to 72 hours to complete.

Step 2

In fact, I received progress updates within 24 hours. After 24 hours, the first step page changed, requiring you to confirm the changes again. It would automatically delete anything you did before the age of 13. There's a progress bar: Confirm - System Processing - Complete, which should be three steps.

You will then receive another email indicating that the system is processing your request.

Step 3

This time it was quick; I received the unlock email in about 5 hours. When I logged in again, the page showed that it was complete, and I was finally in! My account was back too.

However, my followers and following are both zero, and my profile picture, banner, and bio are all gone... I had to set them all up from scratch, and seeing my age section in my profile again made me feel terrible. Some sources say that if you're locked out and then unlocked, the verified blue V badge is gone too. I'm registered under @GoKiteAI , so the blue V badge is still there, and I didn't need to reset anything on the creator side.

Thank God, the account is finally back.

Some Reflections

If a system works smoothly, don't modify it easily.

I wouldn't have filled in my age if I wasn't trying to get a subscription, but I didn't understand Twitter's age rules, which led to this incident. Losing an account is a devastating blow for a creator, and this made me realize that I must immediately examine myself for similar crises.

These crises go unnoticed in normal times, but once they occur, they can change the entire situation—this is the "Black Swan theory." As we navigate the cryptocurrency world, I believe the following crises deserve our utmost attention.

free

I prioritize freedom, especially for those working in industries where their physical bodies are still inland. If something were to happen that jeopardizes their freedom, everything would become extremely complicated. Recent laws are becoming increasingly clear, and previously controversial and ambiguous areas are now very well defined.

OTC merchants, project owners, and those receiving rebates are all high-risk groups. Just because something hasn't happened doesn't mean it won't happen, and just because it has happened doesn't mean it's okay. If freedom is destroyed, then nothing else matters. This is something that must be taken seriously, especially given the unique circumstances in inland China.

Many people are deceiving themselves, clinging to a sense of wishful thinking. I'm not exaggerating; the more we neglect things in daily life, the more destructive the crises become—does this fit the description of a black swan event?

healthy

This is almost as important as freedom, but it takes a slight backseat to freedom. This circle is extremely destructive to one's health, placing both the body and mind in an extremely unhealthy environment. Prolonged sitting, irregular sleep patterns, haphazard eating, and constant mental stress... taking the time to get a physical checkup... wouldn't that be shocking?

Some teachers keep sharing supplements, which are all good, but the core is still to change some lifestyle habits, pay attention to adjusting your mind and body between FOMO and FUD, and periodically go out to touch herbs, which is definitely effective.

I try to communicate more with friends. Sometimes I don't speak to anyone for several days, and I even feel a bit withdrawn... The health issues I'm currently most concerned about include my eyes, cervical spine, and lumbar spine.

tool

For anything that matters, you need to have a comprehensive plan. What if you really can't get your account back this time? After all, these are still centralized products, and there aren't any better, universally accepted decentralized alternatives yet. So, you need to make it a habit to:

‣ Prepare to back up your alternate account

‣ Reduce unnecessary actions

‣ Follow Twitter rules

In addition, I have also set up my own Telegram channel, where I will update some content that is not quite the same as Twitter. In case of extreme circumstances, I will at least retain a group of old friends with whom I interact more.