Have you ever wondered how people get those sweet, swt two or three letter Twitter handles? It's not just early adopters. With the right connections, someone at Twitter will secretly get help you nab a better, inactive Twitter handle—like, say @dc instead of @dickcostolo—from some unsuspecting noob.

"There is a total underground inactive Twitter handle-getting movement that went on for a long time," a source told Valleywag. But in the last two months, the source said, the process has come to a "screeching halt."

Friends ask their friends at Twitter to get handles. I think this came to a screeching halt recently. None of my friends have been able to get a handle for some time. Rumor has it that the guy that did the switch overs left Twitter (once you filed a ticket he would make the switch). There are some real businesses out there that have the corresponding domains and proof of ownership and still can't get the inactive Twitter handles they want."

It seems likely there's more than one guy with the power to deal out handles. Twitter did not return requests for comment. However another source who secured an enviable account noted, "There isn't an established process for it, seems like it is a favor they will do for certain people."

Do "secret" S-1 filings have an "Underground Practices" section?

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