Elon Musk warned that Twitter would start "purging" inactive accounts on the platform, enabling users to get their hands on highly-coveted usernames which have been idle for a long time.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of tech giants like Tesla and SpaceX announced the looming "purging" in his recent tweet.
Elon Musk Says Twitter To 'Purge' Inactive Accounts
This illustration photo taken May 13, 2022, displays Elon Musks Twitter account with a Twitter logo in the background in Los Angeles.
But this time, Musk warns that Twitter will start deactivating inactive accounts on the service soon. He failed to give a specific timeline for it. However, he clarified that the upcoming "purging" will be more lenient to users.
Instead of deleting accounts that fail to log in after 30 days, Chief Twit says the purge will only affect users who have been inactive for several years. The Twitter big boss tweeted that they plan to delete "accounts that have had no activity for several years."
On top of that, he warned the rest of Twitter users that they might lose some followers. If most of your followers have been inactive for quite some time now, you might encounter a significant drop.
As per Reuters, Musk plans to purge these idle accounts to make high-coveted usernames available in circulation once again. The billionaire entrepreneur touts that the move is "important to free up abandoned handles."
While some users might lose followers, it should be an opportunity for some to take usernames they have been wanting to use.
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Twitter Plans to Auction Usernames
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Elon Musk, founder and chief engineer of SpaceX speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition March 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. Musk answered a range of questions relating to SpaceX projects during his appearance at the conference.
According to CNET, Musk took over Twitter in 2022 to the tune of $44 billion. Since then, the billionaire has made a couple of drastic changes to the platform, including laying off 80% of the workforce and policy updates to make money off the service.
Under the leadership of Musk, the Blue subscription service saw a massive revamp, allowing users to buy blue checkmarks. Besides selling the once highly-coveted verification badges, Mr. Tweet is considering selling usernames. Tech Crunch notes in the same report that the Twitter boss raised the idea of auctioning some famous handles on the social network.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has long been interested in making some usernames available again. It was one of his priorities after buying the service, which is now estimated to cost half the price he bought it, roughly $20 billion.
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