Elon Musk Says Twitter is Purging Old Accounts – According to Elon Musk’s recent comments, Twitter is removing dormant accounts on its site, which may free up a lot of long-coveted identities. Though Twitter has vowed for years to return more usernames to the rotation, it has failed to make a large-scale attempt to do so, despite having an inactive account policy in place that requires users to log in at least every 30 days to keep accounts from being permanently erased.
Twitter’s purge, according to Musk, is more conservative than the policy implies. Instead, he claims that the business is removing accounts that have had “no activity at all for several years,” while also alerting users that the purge may result in a decline in follower counts. That may be more noticeable on long-running Twitter accounts whose owners amassed a sizable following during Twitter’s early days as a social network.
People Also Read: Twitter to let Publishers Charge Users per Article Read
Musk explained in a subsequent tweet in response to a question about username availability that “yes,” a large number of usernames were set to become available as a result of this decision. He could not, however, explain how users would obtain these usernames other than the traditional approach of attempting to establish a new account with a specific name.
Twitter had investigated selling desirable usernames through online auctions in recent months in order to make additional revenue. It’s unclear whether that strategy is still in play, or how it will function if it is. Musk also tweeted in December 2022 that Twitter will “soon” begin emptying the namespace of 1.5 billion accounts, emphasizing that dormant accounts would be terminated as part of the process.
Musk has been interested in releasing usernames for some time, tweeting in October that it was something he wanted to do as Twitter’s new owner. Twitter has seen growing competition from Twitter alternatives such as open source platform Mastodon, decentralized rival Bluesky, and various Twitter clones such as T2, nostr, and Post since Musk’s acquisition of the social network.
Though none has emerged as the “new Twitter,” each network has attracted thousands of Twitter users, with Mastodon boasting 1.2 million monthly active users across its servers, for example. Other firms, including Substack, Flipboard, and Artifact, have created their own discussion capabilities, which may compete with Twitter indirectly.
People Also Read: Meta Says About 10% of its Global Ad Revenue at Risk From EU Data Flows Order
Musk could possibly entice lapsed users back to Twitter by giving up prized usernames, which would enhance network effects and, ultimately, Twitter’s capacity to collect income. Nonetheless, Musk tweets a lot of things, and not all of them come true in the time frame he suggests.
So yet, neither the official Twitter account nor the Twitter Support account have released any updates or specifics concerning the prospective username land grab. Many people have asked Musk in his responses if there will be a method to memorialize the accounts of persons who have died rather than delete them. This, too, has not been addressed.
