How Can I Stay Anonymous on Twitter™?

You can stay anonymous on Twitter™ by using an anonymous online micro-blogging service, setting up a proxy Internet connection, disabling the geolocation tool on Twitter™, and masking your Internet protocol (IP) address. Using Twitter™ without your real name or email address is also an important measure for remaining anonymous online. Tweeting hints about your location, profession, or personal life also is generally not recommended if you want to stay anonymous. Creating this type of separate online identity is often considered a good practice for maintaining a certain level of Twitter™ safety, and the same steps can also be applied to other online social platforms.

Before creating your account as an anonymous user, pick a unique moniker. This step can usually take some planning because you generally do not want to choose a nickname that reveals possible hints about your age, gender, occupation, interests, or points of view regarding topics like politics. Other users who are determined to find out your identity can often put together a surprisingly complete picture of you from these small bits of information. Some users who wish to stay anonymous on the Internet use a made-up word for their nickname, such as one with a prefix and suffix that are normally not placed together in standard language. Dictionaries and thesauruses can be good sources of ideas for this option.

You will also need a separate email address to stay anonymous on Twitter™. A variety of online services offer free anonymous email accounts that are encrypted to prevent messages from being readable to intruders, and many of these services also erase records of sent and received messages. Many of these email accounts are free just as with standard web-based email. Some offer temporary email addresses that expire after a specific number of days, while others are permanent. Using a permanent anonymous email address to sign up for your Twitter™ account can prevent possible login problems that could happen with some expired temporary email addresses.

A proxy Internet connection prevents other users from examining any of your web traffic, including your tweets, posts, and email messages. This security option can be activated on major web browsers by selecting a few specific connection settings under the browser's tool menus. Step-by-step instructions for this kind of configuration can usually be found under the help section of your browser's company website.

If you plan to tweet from your mobile phone or laptop computer while away from home, micro-blogging is another way to ensure you will stay anonymous. Several micro-blogging services connect with Twitter™ and allow you to post without your location or email being identified. When you sign up for one of these services, make sure you disable any geolocation options in both the micro-blog platform and in your regular account.