Twitter is removing inactive accounts on its site, which may free up a lot of long-coveted usernames, according to Elon Musk’s recent comments.
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.
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, emphasising 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.