Twitter To Purge Inactive Accounts Soon, Elon Musk Says

Twitter is deactivating inactive accounts soon.

Company CEO Elon Musk recently advised people that Twitter will soon purge accounts that hadn't been touched or used for several years, leading them to become inactive.

Musk previously warned about the account deletion a few weeks after he took over Twitter as its new CEO.

Twitter Inactive Account Purge Details

Musk mentioned on his official Twitter account that the company will purge accounts that don't have any recent login or activity in recent years to free up name space.

This isn't the first time Musk expressed his interest in purging Twitter of inactive accounts. He mentioned in a Dec. 2022 tweet that such a purge would free up name space for 1.5 billion accounts, allowing new users to have a username similar to or the same as the one a previous user registered to them.

Twitter's Help Center page mentioned that the company measures the use of log-ins and recommends users do so at least once a month to retain their Twitter account and save it from being purged.

Musk warned that should the purge push through, people, especially content creators and other professionals, would probably see a significant follower count drop on their Twitter pages.

What's worrying about this incoming purge is that Musk didn't give a timeline for when it would happen, which would have allowed users to log in to their Twitter accounts and tweet something to create recent activity if they wanted to keep them.

As such, those who wish to keep their inactive account may want to log into their Twitter accounts and create some activity to prevent Twitter from purging them from its platform.

However, as CNET reports, Musk didn't mention what would happen to the Twitter accounts of deceased people or provide an option to memorialize those accounts. The purge could also lead to another round of impersonation problems on Twitter since other users who wish to enter the platform could use the same or similar username to a previous Twitter account that got purged.

Another round of impersonation problems would be problematic for Twitter since it hasn't fully solved the same problem once its Twitter Blue check marks and verification process became available for purchase.

Twitter has yet to address requests for comment on the matter.

Twitter's Positive Cash Flow

Musk has been interested in purging Twitter of inactive accounts for some time. Aside from his announcement of his intention to do so in Dec. 2022, pushing through with the purge would help Twitter earn more money too.

You may remember that Twitter considered selling desired usernames through online auctions to generate additional revenue to create a positive cash flow for itself.

Additionally, the fear of losing their Twitter account could lure back inactive users back into the platform and get verified, which could further increase Twitter's revenue since many of them could want Twitter Blue verification.