According to what Elon Musk tweeted, Twitter is starting to eliminate the inactive accounts on its platform, which could free up a number of long-coveted usernames. Let's find out more details.
Twitter purge unlocks many usernames "frozen" for years
While Twitter has promised for years to put more usernames back into rotation, it hadn't yet made any large-scale effort to do so. This is despite having an inactive accounts policy that suggests Twitter users log in at least every 30 days, to prevent accounts from being permanently removed.
According to Musk, the company is purging accounts that haven't had "any activity for several years," while also warning users that the result of the purge could result in a drop in users' follower counts. This may be most evident for long-standing Twitter accounts whose owners amassed large followings during Twitter's early days as a social network.
Musk also clarified, in response to a question about username availability, that "yes," many usernames are going to become available as a result of this move. However, he did not specify how users would be able to acquire these usernames, beyond the usual method of creating a new account with a particular name.
In recent months, Twitter had been considering the possibility of sell desired usernames through online auctions to generate additional revenue. It's unclear if this plan is still in place or how it will work, if so.
Musk's move to attract new users to Twitter
After Musk's takeover of the social network, Twitter faced increasing competition from alternatives to Twitter, including open source platform Mastodon, decentralized rival Bluesky, and other Twitter clones such as T2, Nostr, and Post. among others.
Although none of them became the "new Twitter", each network managed to steal thousands of users: Mastodon, for example, now boasts 1,2 million monthly active users on its servers. Other companies, such as Substack, Flipboard, and Artifact, have also launched their own discussion features that may indirectly compete with Twitter.
By opening up coveted usernames, Twitter could potentially re-attract users who have left the social network.
However, Musk tweets a lot of things, and not all of them happen in the time frame he suggests. So far, neither the official Twitter account nor the support account have shared any updates regarding the potential username hoarding or any other details about this process.
Source | TechCrunch
