Have you ever wanted to put yourself in the detective role and do some digging about a person or brand? Social media makes this a whole lot easier. If you can get someone’s details, a Twitter user lookup can give you their information.
This act can give you information to verify an individual’s identity. Even better, you can perform the lookup process for multiple people simultaneously. Interestingly, your search results can also include their followers and followings.
Keep reading to learn more about user lookup on X.
What Is a Twitter User Lookup?
A Twitter or X user lookup refers to the various methods of finding information about a Twitter account. The most prominent lookup method is typing a username into the search bar.
This search method provides a user’s Twitter account profile. The profile contains the individual’s name, date of birth, pictures, and posts from which you can accumulate personal information.
However, there are other ways to collect the details of a target user or a group of users. Some people use third-party tools to access individual Twitter data. Still, some opt for Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that are capable of fetching the necessary information.
A lookup is useful as it discloses an account’s profile data and statistical information. For example, you can find a user’s tweet, follower count, and analytical data on their engagement metrics.
Besides helping you evaluate your target users’ credibility and reach, lookup can also help you gauge a person’s influence. In this regard, it’s very helpful in X competitor analysis as it provides comparative grounds for benchmarking.
Given its ability to provide data for a large group, a user lookup can facilitate market research on any product. It can also provide insight for social media monitoring and is thus useful to brands and individuals on several fronts.
The Importance of a Twitter User ID Lookup
The Twitter user ID lookup provides an account’s unique ID. A Twitter ID is a set of numbers that gives each account a digital identity and differentiates it from others. Though no two accounts can have the same Twitter username, people often change usernames on Twitter.
Therefore, a username is not a permanent identifier. But a user ID is unchangeable. Knowing an account’s ID gives you an advantage because you can always trace it. You won’t struggle to identify the account even if the owner gets a new Twitter handle.
But beyond this, you can also use the Twitter ID to retrieve information, including tweets, from any user’s account. Hence, it gives you the privilege of easily accessing data.
This unique identification code also provides a means of easily deciphering who a user follows and who follows them. Being privy to all this data makes monitoring campaigns through digital tracking easy. It’s also useful in detecting attempts at identity theft, as one can use an ID to verify an account.
With information accessible through a list of user IDs, you can identify trends that will help you perform targeted marketing. Hence, an account ID is a vital piece of information that serves several purposes.
How To Perform a User ID Lookup With Third-Party Tools
If you want to discover someone’s details or monitor a market competitor, you may wonder how to access their ID. There are several methods for finding this crucial piece of information.
If you can get the account owner to share their profile URL, copy the numbers at the end. But if you can’t get the URL, there’s another alternative. Several third-party tools exist, some of which are online websites you can use.
However, depending on your choice, you may need to sign up and create an account. While some tools are free to use, you must pay for others. But some offer a trial before payment.
Below are three third-party X user ID lookup tools you can try:
All the above are third-party tools with similar usage procedures. Here are four steps for finding a user’s X ID with any of the tools above:
- Visit the website of your choice.
- Register and create an account if necessary.
- For some tools, you may need to authenticate your Twitter account before proceeding.
- Locate the find ID function and insert the account’s username. Press the search button and wait for the result to load.
Note that some tools will provide the user ID outright. However, others may provide the profile URL from which you can extract the ID.
Extracting Information Using Twitter API Users Lookup
After getting a Twitter user’s unique identity code, you may wonder how to use it to collect information. You only need to look up user IDs on Twitter’s Application Programming Interface. However, you must create a developer account to perform Twitter API user lookup.
After creating your account, you can get your API key to generate a bearer token. The API functions with several endpoints, which are like instructions. Thus, to extract data, you need to use the GET endpoint.
However, note that there are two variants of this endpoint. One can process and collect the information of an individual, while the other can collate the data of several users. Although you can look up multiple IDs, the API works with Twitter rate limits. The rate limit is 75 requests every 15 minutes.
But this depends on the API version you use. However, a single request can cover 100 users. You may wonder if looking up the ID of a user with a private Twitter account will work. The answer is conditional. If you’re following a private user, you can see their tweets and data, but if you’re not, it won’t work.
Although Twitter’s API is very helpful, not everyone can use it. In addition to having a Twitter developer account, one must have basic programming language knowledge. This knowledge will make it easy to give commands and interpret API results.
Is It Necessary To Have a Twitter Account Before Looking Someone Up?
No, you don’t have to have a Twitter account before performing a user lookup. However, you need a developer account if you want to search for someone in the Twitter app. However, besides this, it’s not compulsory to have a Twitter account.
Despite not needing an account, you must have the Twitter username(s) or ID of whoever you want to search. Apart from the user/ screen name, you can also use an account ID to perform a lookup. But you might wonder how to get someone’s screen name without having an X account.
Most people include their real names or nicknames in their handles. Therefore, you can use someone else’s X account to find your target by searching their known name. Alternatively, if you have a dormant account, you can access it to get the needed information.
You can retrieve a forgotten username with your email address and Twitter password. Thus, you can access an old account even if you lose your username to find your target’s details.
When you find the user, copy their screen name and proceed with your plan. After using the methods above to get the target’s user ID, create a Twitter developer account to use the API.
Privacy Concerns Surrounding Twitter Lookup
Many people wonder whether the process of the X user lookup violates any rules. The answer depends on several factors. For example, the tool you use greatly influences the legality of your actions.
Not all third-party tools comply with Twitter’s policies. If you use a noncompliant tool, it’ll be difficult to guarantee no violations or data risks. Also, note that data scraping without consent is a cybercrime. Sharing other people’s data is an even worse offense. But even if you’re skeptical about the safety of a Twitter lookup, you can alleviate your concerns.
You only need to choose a rule-compliant tool and be mindful of how you use the data you collect. Also, avoid maneuvering the system to access people’s private details. Even when using Twitter’s API, you should read several guides to familiarize yourself with the dos and don’ts.
Doing this will prevent you from making risky mistakes that can lead to cybercrime and its consequences.
Protecting Your Privacy Using TweetEraser
You can never tell when someone will decide to perform a user lookup on you. Therefore, it’s better to take some precautions to prevent data leaks. Since Twitter’s API divulges information you’ve publicly shared in your tweets, you must be mindful of what you post online.
Do not share your personally identifiable information and sensitive data in your tweets, such as your present location. You can never tell the intentions of those searching for information about you, so protecting your privacy is important.
You can activate post protection so your tweets are visible to your followers only. However, post protection doesn’t hide your previous posts from when your account was public.
Hence, the best way to secure your data is to delete any post that reveals too much. The more posts you have, the more you may have to delete. Due to this, you’ll need assistance to ease and speed up the process.
But you needn’t worry, as TweetEraser is here for you. Our web deletion tool lets users delete hundreds of posts in one click. Simply select all the tweets you want to hide and press the delete button.
If you want to have a record of your tweets, you can download your Twitter archive file before you begin. Remember, whatever you delete will not appear in a Twitter user lookup.
Clear the information on your timeline with TweetEraser today!
FAQ
Is it legal to perform a lookup on people on X?
Yes, a Twitter lookup is legal because the information displayed to you is already public. But, you must abide by the Twitter API guidelines when performing a lookup. Also, your usage of the information you get shouldn’t violate Twitter’s policies, or you might break some rules.
Does Twitter display user ID?
No, Twitter does not display the user ID among the profile information. Hence, you must copy your profile URL and extract the numeric digits to get your ID. But if you’re looking for someone’s ID, use a finder tool and search for their username to get it.
Can I use the Twitter API for free?
Yes, you can use Twitter’s API without paying a dime. However, you must remember that there are different levels of the API, some of which require a subscription. Though subscribing unlocks some features, it’s not compulsory.
