Meet the Woman Who Owns the Sharknado Twitter Handle

How did Elizabeth Wylder beat Syfy to the name?

ByABC News
July 12, 2013, 6:11 PM
Aubrey Peeples stars as Claudia in "Sharknado."
Aubrey Peeples stars as Claudia in "Sharknado."
Syfy

— -- When Chicagoan Elizabeth Wylder selected her Twitter handle in 2009, she had no way of knowing that Syfy would produce a movie with the same name — and that Sharknado would captivate the Internet.

But since the made-for-TV movie's release, Wylder's inbox has been flooded with people accidentally tweeting at her @sharknado account, instead of using the #Sharknado hashtag.

SEE ALSO: Sharknado Takes Twitter by Storm

It's an understandable mix-up, but the question arises: How did Wylder beat Syfy to the name, four years before Sharknado was ever a thing? Well, thank the Internet.

"Several years ago, someone posted a series of mock book covers online for the Choose Your Own Adventure book series that was popular in the '80s," she told Mashable. "One of those mock covers was for Sharknado. I thought it was hilarious, and it stuck with me."

At the time of publication, Wylder says she's received about 400 misplaced Twitter mentions so far. Even actress Tara Reid, who stars in the movie, accidentally used a Twitter mention instead of a hashtag when tweeting about the film. It's an interaction Wylder says is "hard to beat."

When asked how she felt about being dubbed 'The Real Sharknado' by a few people on Twitter, Wylder joked, "Like a less plastic Tara Reid. Or maybe one of the lesser Kardashians; maybe a third cousin twice-removed. Either way, my students at Malcolm X College are going to have a lot of fun with this on Monday morning."

BONUS: 15 'Jaws'-Dropping Shark Memes Circling the Web

This article originally appeared on Mashable.com.