Twitter is a permanent fire. This has been the case since Elon Musk completed the purchase process of the social network and, spurred on by a set of reasons, among which, without a doubt, making the service profitable, began to make decisions and apply changes, as well as other quite questionable measures. And what is worse (or better for some, since there are also those who think, and they are entitled, that Musk is doing very well) is that we should not expect changes in this regard, at least in the short term.
Those who read me frequently know that I tend to be quite critical with many of the movements of the new owner of Twitter, and that his decision to censor journalists marked, in my opinion, a turning point, a milestone, a point of no return, from which it is very difficult for me not to see aspects Negatives in practically all their decisions. And so much so that, at some point, I even came to wonder if he had lost objectivity when talking about Twitter.
Today, however, I am glad to see that this is not the case, and as incredible as it may seem, I am going to speak in positive terms of the most recent announcement made by Musk in relation to Twitter. And no, I’m not doing it forced by circumstances or to try to prove anything, it’s just that, honestly, I think that what he’s raising makes all the sense in the world, that it’s good for the social network and for its users, and that it can also have a positive impact on the infrastructure costs of the social network. Come on, that seems to me a success in every rule.
We’re purging accounts that have had no activity at all for several years, so you will probably see follower count drop
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 8, 2023
In the absence of a communication team (because he fired the entire team), we know about this novelty, which actually was already advanced some time ago, for a tweet from Musk himself, in which he states that inactive Twitter accounts will be removed, thereby freeing up those usernames. And for those who are occasional users of the social network, in the same message it clarifies that it will only affect “accounts that have not had any activity for several years«.
When this possibility was first discussed at the beginning of the year, Musk quantified inactive Twitter accounts at around 1.5 billion, a number that may seem excessive at first, but which may not be so far from reality, if we take into account that both individuals and companies tend to create more accounts than they usually use. Whether for specific events or actions, whether due to a fleeting curiosity about Twitter, or for any other reason, it is likely that the number of inactive accounts is monstrously high.
It will be necessary to see, yes, if the elimination of the inactive accounts and the consequent release of their usernames has, as a second phase of the plan, the charge for those that are most interesting, something that has also been speculated on in the past. But until this is confirmed or denied, a cleanup can certainly go quite well. With only one caveat, and that is what will happen to the accounts of deceased people. We know that those of celebrities have the approval of the social network, but it is true that others, from anonymous people, or at least not so public, remain as a reminder of said people. And at this point, I hope that Twitter knows how to manage it properly, with sensitivity, as this would earn them many points.
