Elon Musk Announces Twitter Will Remove Inactive Accounts, Making Sought-After Handles Available
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, announced on November 26, 2019, that Twitter will remove inactive accounts, making sought-after handles available. The decision comes amid concerns about Twitter’s dormant accounts. Musk tweeted, “Just deleted my Twitter account … Why? Too much noise.” It seems that deleting his account was the catalyst for Musk to address the issue of inactive accounts on Twitter.
What are Inactive Accounts and Why are They Concerning?
Inactive accounts are accounts that have not been logged into or have not been used to tweet or retweet in over six months. Twitter has identified that these accounts could be clogging up the platform, inflating the number of followers and likes for some users. Additionally, inactive accounts can be a target for hackers and spammers. This decision will be a benefit to users who have been seeking handles that have been inactive for some time.
What is the Impact of This Decision?
The real game-changer for the decision is the number of sought-after handles that are now back on the market. Account holders who have had to compromise with usernames containing additional letters, numbers, or symbols will finally have the opportunity to obtain a cleaner and more straightforward account handle. However, this decision could potentially hurt verified accounts, particularly those belonging to deceased individuals. Verified accounts are those that have a blue checkmark next to the username, indicating the authenticity of the account.
What Will Happen to These Inactive Accounts?
Twitter announced that it intends to send out notices and emails to account holders warning them that their accounts may be removed due to inactivity. The company aims to begin removing accounts from December 11th, 2019. It is uncertain what Twitter will do with the usernames that go unused now that they will be available again. It is possible that Twitter can reassign certain usernames to other accounts equally.
Conclusion
The move by Twitter has been welcomed by many who had been seeking username handles that were previously unavailable. This decision will help bring increased transparency to Twitter and provide more accurate metrics of engagement. Thus far, there has been an overwhelming positive response and widespread anticipation for what is to come.
Hashtags: #ElonMusk #Twitter #InactiveAccounts #SoughtAfterHandles #Verification #SEO
Summary: Elon Musk announced that Twitter will remove inactive accounts to make coveted username handles accessible. Inactive accounts could be detrimental to Twitter’s transparency and accuracy in its metrics of engagement. This move is expected to be beneficial to Twitter’s active users, but verified account holders, particularly those belonging to deceased individuals, could potentially face issues. #BUSINESS