Hey Twitter, @Zimmerman is not George Zimmerman
A mild-mannered man from Charlotte is being mistaken for another, more infamous Zimmerman. When will it stop?

George Zimmerman, that George Zimmerman, had his name pulled out of the Infamous Celebrity Dustbin last week after it was revealed that he might, just might, be fighting the rapper DMX in a boxing match. The promoter later realized what a terrible idea that would be and called it off, but not before getting people all sorts of riled up:
@DMX just growl at that fool @zimmerman cant stand his smirky face
— Chelsea Piers (@ChelseaPiers09) February 6, 2014
@DMX vs @Zimmerman wtf
— Keets (@Keets1923) February 6, 2014
I wanted @thegame to fight @Zimmerman
— Frankie Lua (@LuaFrank) February 7, 2014
As you can see, some people on Twitter decided, without double checking, that @Zimmerman MUST be George Zimmerman, much to the fatigued bewilderment of one David Zimmerman, a search engine optimization expert from Charlotte who's held the @Zimmerman handle long before George became infamous:
Please note: someone else, who happens to share my name, is the idiot wanting to fight on TV
— David Zimmerman (@Zimmerman) February 1, 2014
There is also Zimmermann, a company that designs and sells swimwear:
Behind the scenes at @Zimmerman. Their fall line is one of our favorites so far. #nyfw #omo #underthetents #MBFW pic.twitter.com/LEQscPRdMD
— OKMYOUTFIT (@OKMYOUTFIT) February 7, 2014
Apparently today Twitter thinks I'm a swimsuit designer who they hope gets beat up by a rapper.
— David Zimmerman (@Zimmerman) February 7, 2014
And let us not forget Neetzan Zimmerman, a former editor at Gawker who's been lauded lately for his ability to rack up millions of pageviews by knowing what pictures, videos and stories will go viral:
@jennhanin um… That Zimmerman may have a social media strategy but it's not the same as mine.
— David Zimmerman (@Zimmerman) January 5, 2014
@jennhanin Thank you but I was trying to tell you that I'm not THAT Zimmerman
— David Zimmerman (@Zimmerman) January 6, 2014
But back to the first, most hate-inspiring Zimmerman. Because of him, David has been fending off angry Tweets for the better part of two years now:
@bsuec wrong Zimmerman
— David Zimmerman (@Zimmerman) May 28, 2013
Please remember: I am not THAT Zimmerman.
— David Zimmerman (@Zimmerman) July 14, 2013
sure I'm receiving a lot of misplaced flack but this does not compare to the grief the Martin family must feel right now.
— David Zimmerman (@Zimmerman) July 14, 2013
As you threaten this Twitter account please bear in mind: 1. I'm not THAT Zimmerman and 2. This is a public record.
— David Zimmerman (@Zimmerman) June 25, 2013
As a rule, this happens quite often on Twitter, when people with otherwise common names start getting deluged with the Twitter equivalent of wrong numbers, thanks to someone else who suddenly found themselves in the spotlight. The most recent example: A guy named Robbie Sherman (@RSherman25) was inundated with tweets after Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) gave an, uh, impassioned interview after his team won the NFC title game. Robbie found himself flabbergasted, but at least one guy could sympathize:
@RSherman25 I feel for you! Remember: don't feed the trolls and don't tweet your current location!
— David Zimmerman (@Zimmerman) January 24, 2014