Twitter follower.... moving in to my DMS, feeling uncomfortable.

[Tolkienista]

I've been on twitter/X for a couple of years and like this platform under an assumed name, not my real name.
I post on politics, music, current affairs, nothing personal.
My photo is of me, so I'm identifiable as a woman.

Someone followed me over the weekend after I replied to a post on teaching, I followed them back......he started to see we'd got certain things in common, both retired teachers, both like the same band, both the same religion.

Now in the last ten minutes he's sent a private message, asking what my real name is.
It's made me feel uncomfortable & the whole point of me being on X is to be anonymous, absolutely first & foremost.

What do I do?
How do I reply? Do I reply?
He lives not quite in my vicinity but not that far away.....this is the first time this has happened, not sure what to do next.

Just block him and move on

Block and think no more of it.

I regularly block anyone who started following me on social media who I don’t think is genuine / doesn’t have a sound reason to be following me.

I think it's the fact it's moved to a DM and asking my real name in the space of a day.......hhmmmm, shows he's got plans.
I certainly wouldn't do that, so I don't want it done to me.

I think it was the fact that he's been building up to yes we've got that in common and that and that too......then a DM. All in the space of less than a day!
I pretty much predicted it was going that way.

Just block him. Why are you giving this any headspace? What else do you think you should do?

Block him, delete the message, that's it. I'm not on the cesspool that is Twix, but on Facebook and Insta I often get people following me because of a hobby I participate in - I blocked someone only last night who added me and then started sending DMs that were not appropriate.

Thanks for your messages.
I'm not on FB, but when I was, I often had strange requests from unknown men which of course I declined.
This was different, just started as a reply to a post on teaching methods, then rapidly progressed to ...."oh we've got so much in common" then a DM.

It’s not really different There’s creeps all over the internet and the chatting and then turning weird is a fairly depressingly normal thing to happen. just block and move on

He's a scammer. Block him.

Was it different? Sounds like a strange request from an unknown man. I mean he barely waited 24 hours before asking you an inappropriate question.

Yes, you're right.
It's just me being naive.
Anyway, he's blocked now..... didn't realise it was that easy to do, never had to use it before.
Thanks for your message.

Good for you, I think that was a good decision. No worries - enjoy the rest of your Bank Holiday weekend.

Thank you.
It's just a bit unsettling to receive a DM so quickly after replying to his lpost on education reiterating what we have in common then....."how am I doing, what's your real name?"
No thanks.

Definitely no thanks! Isn't it weird how swiftly people can go from: "Oh they seem nice and normal" to "Woooahhhh! What's going on here?!" They should come with warning labels!!

I really wouldn’t dwell on this. I’ve been on Twitter since 2012. It happens ALL the time if you’re not a private account. You’ve blocked him now, so don’t worry. Obviously you know never to share any personal/identifiable information on your feed, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.

Obviously he doesn't know my real name or anything personal about me but the speed of his interactions from public comment to DM definitely caught me on the hop.
Thanks @Arlanymor for all your messages.

No worries at all - onwards and upwards. 👍

Thanks for your contribution and your really sound advice.
I'm definitely not going to dwell on it.
Nipped in the bud!

"He lives not quite in my vicinity but not that far away....."

Unless you live in Lagos, this probaly isn't true.

Glad you’ve blocked him, I’ve had this a few times on Twitter, and just block them straight away. I have a different name on there too, because I’ve no wish to have someone causing me issues with my job. I’ve also had to block people who DM you after a follow back, and they get a DM reply telling them not to do it again or they’ll be blocked. If you don’t want DMs at all, put on the header in your profile.

@Tolkienista No worries! FWIW, if you go to your Settings, then Privacy & Safety and finally Direct Messaging, you are able to narrow down who can direct message you (no one, verified users, or everyone). But anyone you follow back will be able to message you as standard.

Thanks for your contribution, I've been on twitter for a few years and this is the first negative interaction I've had, so maybe I've just been lucky.
Anyway he's blocked now, so he'll know his interaction wasn't appreciated or asked for.