According to The New York Times, Twitter may sell usernames in order to increase revenue.
Engineers at the company have been discussing the possibility of holding online auctions for usernames, also known as handles, since December of last year.
However, it is unclear whether this idea will be implemented and whether it will affect all or just a few usernames. This comes as Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, seeks new revenue streams for the company.
Musk announced last month in a tweet that Twitter would free up 1.5 billion usernames by deleting inactive accounts.
This comes after his purchase of the social network in October 2022, when he expressed interest in freeing up accounts with desirable usernames in a tweet reply. Twitter has yet to respond to a comment request.
Contrary to Twitter’s Original Policy
Twitter’s policy prohibits the purchase and sale of usernames, a practice known as “username squatting.” However, for years, people have been able to obtain desired usernames on the black market.
This illegal practice has also attracted hackers, as evidenced by the arrest in 2020 of a teenager for hacking the social network and selling high-profile usernames such as Musk, Obama, and Gates.
Telegram announced in October that it plans to hold an auction for usernames on both individual accounts and channels, using a marketplace built on the TON blockchain.
Since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, he has been looking for ways to increase revenue for the company, which has seen a decline in ad revenue.
Advertisers have reportedly left the platform, and the company’s internal revenue projections have been reduced since Musk’s takeover.
The company has made several changes in recent months to increase revenue. It recently announced that it intends to lift the ban on political advertisements in the near future.
The social network launched a new version of the Twitter Blue subscription in November, which costs $7.99 and includes a verified blue checkmark.
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