Elon Musk’s next step as Twitter CEO might be removing inactive accounts in near future

Eleni Thomas
Twitter inactive accounts header

New Twitter CEO Elon Musk might be planning on removing inactive Twitter accounts and making the removed handles accessible to other users in the near future.

Despite rumors circulating for months, it was finally confirmed just days ago that Elon Musk is now the official owner of Twitter. Since taking over, it appears that the new CEO is wasting no time in changing up the social media platform. As well some other big changes, it appears that the owner is looking at ensuring that all accounts on the platform are active and that old or unused Twitter accounts are deactivated.

Twitter user Erich Rusch tweeted at Musk, requesting that inactive accounts should be removed from the platform, their Twitter handles being back up for grabs. “Please purge all inactive accounts,” began Rusch. “There are so many inactives sitting on excellent Twitter handles. Rule should be: If you have been inactive for more than a year, you have 30 days to log in. If not, account gets deleted.”

Musk responded “definitely” to the post, implying that this idea is something that he could be exploring – or plan on exploring – in the future. However, Twitter users are already pointing out some potential flaws with this idea.

Twitter users share their concerns about making accounts inactive

One user responded to Musk and asked “what about the accounts of people who have passed away?” Many others have similarly reiterated this concern. Even voicing the idea of having “memorial” accounts for this specific reason.

However, this isn’t the only big change that Musk is planning for the social media platform. There are already reports that Musk is planning on changing up Twitter verification to turn the big blue tick into a feature of a new paid subscription service. As well as this, Musk has even teased the return of Vine.

Musk is yet to comment further on the removal of inactive accounts. We’ll be sure to keep you updated if there are any updates to the story.

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About The Author

Eleni is a Melbourne-based journalist. Having completed her Bachelor's in communication (Journalism) at RMIT University, Eleni is now a senior writer for the Dexerto Australia team. A big Nintendo fan (with a Triforce tattoo to prove it) and a lover of the zombie genre, Eleni covers gaming, entertainment as well as TV and movies for the site. She is also passionate about covering Queer and female representation. Contact Eleni at eleni.thomas@dexerto.com