Elon Musk’s X Could Start Offering Inactive Twitter Handles For Over $50,000
As seen in a recent report by Forbes, Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has been making preparations to sell disused user handles, with potential buyers receiving quotes in the ballpark of US$50,000.
The information was obtained from emails purportedly shared by active X employees, which revealed that the company had made updates to its handle guidelines, processes, and fees.
In fact, rumors about X’s plans to implement such a program have been circulating for months.
As early as November 2022, Musk himself took to social media to express his concerns about a “vast number” of handles being claimed by “bots and trolls.”
make a Handle Marketplace. Enable people to buy and sell handles. eBay/Auction style. Seller could set buy it now price or leave it to the free market auction. Highest bidder wins. Twitter gets a % fee when it sells. Frees up handles and generates revenue.
— Paris Vega (@parisvega) November 24, 2022
In response, a user suggested the idea of a “Handle Marketplace” where individuals could sell accounts to each other, with the platform taking a fee.
These speculations gained further credibility when The New York Times reported in January that Musk intended to free up as many as 1.5 billion usernames in the near future.
In line with this, the network began purging defunct accounts from its site starting in May.
Though, as of now, the site’s username registration policy, as stated on its website, still maintains that inactive usernames cannot be released. It remains to be seen if the social media platform will actually release inactive usernames for sale.
[via Forbes and Social Media Today, cover image via Michele Ursi | Dreamstime.com]
