May 8 — Twitter is about to start removing accounts that have been inactive for a prolonged period of time. The company’s help center page says that Twitter tracks the number of log-ins per account and encourages users to log-in at least once per month.

Due to the inactivity-related purge, people will likely see drops in their follower counts, says CEO Elon Musk. The tweet announcing the purge initiative has racked up over 21,000 retweets and more than 187,000 likes.

Inactive account policy 

Although Twitter has promised to put more usernames back into its rotation for years, the company hasn’t made a concerted effort to do so — at least, not until now. This initiative will make a lot of user names available.

Musk hasn’t yet commented on how users will be able to acquire these usernames, beyond the typical method of creating a new account with a specific name.

Further details

In the past few months, Twitter has been selling desired usernames through online auctions, enabling the company to generate additional revenue.

Whether or not the company will continue with this plan remains unknown. Musk has shown interest in freeing up usernames since last year, when he became Twitter’s owner.

Twitter’s competition

Recent Twitter developments have set off a race to create more social media platforms. Alternatives include Mastodon, decentralized rival Bluesky, and Twitter clones such as T2, and Post, among others. By freeing up coveted usernames, Musk may be able to renew interest in Twitter.

Memorializing users

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic (and for other reasons), many people are asking if there will be a way to memorialize the accounts of those who have passed away. People don’t necessarily wish to see the accounts of friends and loved ones deleted. This hasn’t yet been addressed…

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