May 9, 2023
Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, has indicated that the social media platform would soon begin removing inactive accounts, perhaps resulting in a decline in follower counts.
Musk warned in a tweet that accounts with no activity for several years might be deleted. This action follows Twitter’s revised inactive account policy, which now considers a user inactive if they do not log in at least once every 30 days. Previously, users had to log in every six months to keep their accounts active.
The current policy on dormant accounts is still confusing for Twitter users, particularly those with suspended accounts, accounts belonging to deceased people, and desirable handles. Some users are optimistic that Twitter’s intention to delete inactive accounts would free up identities that have been dormant for years. However, Twitter’s policy currently specifies that inactive usernames cannot be published.
In 2019, Twitter revealed a similar idea to free up usernames, but the plan was received with criticism, and the network finally chose to leave the accounts of dead users alone.
The sources for this piece include an article in ArsTechnica.
