Elon Musk has sparked discussions on Twitter once again by announcing his plans to conduct a significant account sweep. This comes just weeks after the Twitter owner created controversy on the platform by removing the blue verification symbol for older accounts. Musk plans to delete dormant user accounts from the network via his Twitter account, potentially freeing up desired identities, but causing a significant decline in following counts for many users.
Twitter’s inactive account policy makes it clear that logging in is the basis for activity, and not all indicators of account activity are made publicly apparent. Musk has had this idea in mind since he bought Twitter in December 2022, when he declared that Twitter would remove 1.5 billion accounts to free up unused usernames and handles. Although the implementation date is unknown, it may happen sooner rather than later given Musk’s history of groundbreaking projects.
Why Twitter is Taking This Route
A big shift happened on the microblogging platform between October 27 and November 1, according to Statista, with users canceling over 877,000 accounts and Twitter suspending about 497,000 accounts.
The platform consequently suffered a significant loss of roughly 1.3 million profiles. Notably, this result reflects more than twice as many suspended and deactivated accounts within the analyzed interval than were counted each week.
Although it’s unclear how many accounts have become dormant recently, it may be related to the management shift. We might observe a more pronounced decrease in numbers as a result of this new decision, though.
Conclusion
Twitter hopes that by reclaiming inactive accounts, it will stimulate genuine connection and give active users a forum to engage with each other more deeply. While the anticipated follower decline may raise concerns, it is in line with Twitter’s continuous dedication to maximizing user interactions and content relevancy. In the long term, a cleaned-up user base will allow for more precise follower counts, enabling users to create authentic and active communities.
Follow techkudi.com for more