Would you consider paying for a Twitter handle that you really like? Amid discussion of how to free up unused Twitter @handles, of which there are over a billion, Twitter has reportedly discussed holding an auction for these now-userless handles as another way to generate a little extra income for the company. Do I hear $1? Going once, going twice… sold?
“Twitter has considered selling user names to generate new revenue as its owner, Elon Musk, tries to resuscitate the company’s business […] Engineers have discussed running online auctions where people can bid for the user names.”
It does make sense because even Twitter would have difficulty redistributing these handles fairly and reasonably. Right now, the easiest way to get the handle you want is to monitor it, then jump on it once it becomes free. There are even apps that can help you do this. However, even this process would eventually get complicated once thousands of people started vying for the same handle at once. With the threat of bots creating unfair competition, it was logical for Twitter to explore alternatives; netting a little side revenue is a much welcomed (and perhaps needed) bonus.
Back in November, Musk was explaining how Twitter was losing about $4 million a day when he took over due to the massive expenses and limited intake. To rectify the errors, Musk’s first order of business was to start culling Twitter staff, ultimately leading to a 75% reduction of its total workforce. Musk continues to drop staff to this day; not even the Trust and Safety team was ‘safe’.
Musk also had to lay out plans for Twitter to start profiting in other areas, including subscriptions, thus reducing its reliance on ads and diversifying its income. However, Musk continued to reiterate that the threat of bankruptcy is looming – if Twitter can’t make more money from its 238 million daily active users, then it might be in an increasingly difficult operating position.
So, not only does Twitter need to get its finances in order, but it’s also in a worse position than it had been before thanks to Musk’s debt obligations in purchasing the company. This is partially the reason why Musk seems to be reducing costs wherever he can, which includes shutting down data centers and ending staff benefits; the man even cut Twitter’s janitorial division for crying out loud. In this sense, it does start to make more sense why selling now-freed-up usernames could help recoup some of the cost.
The Wrap
It’ll be interesting to see how Twitter decides to proceed with this, as well as the type of safeguards it’ll look to implement on fairly highly sought-after handles to stop them from being re-sold on the black market. NFT usernames? Uhhh, no. Maybe it won’t really matter in the end and Twitter is only after to gain a small profit and free up its database of cluttered ‘ghost’ handles. Regardless, it’s definitely something worth keeping an eye on.
Please note:
This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin.
Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.
