With the first of the month right around the corner, Twitter is trying to scrape up the rent money by any means necessary.
According to a recent report from The New York Times, the embattled social media app is looking to start selling usernames to increase revenue. Engineers with Twitter have begun brainstorming online auctions where users can bid on usernames, commonly known as “Twitter handles.” The idea is still in its infancy, so it is unclear if it will ever go live. Still, the mere thought of having to purchase a fictional online identity seems a bit unhinged, raising more alarms about the current state of the platform.
This latest lousy idea comes after Elon Musk announced last month that nearly 1.5 billion usernames belonging to inactive accounts would be made available as the company begins purging these profiles. People have been selling and buying usernames via black markets for years. So the concept is not a new one, though no social media platform has ever brought this practice to the mainstream.
This latest money grab is just another of Twitter’s plots to secure money after advertisers continue to pull away from the blue bird. This is in large part due to Musk’s hostile takeover of the company and the repercussions that came along with it. The billionaire has consistently promoted hate speech veiled under the guise of “free speech.” Hundreds of Twitter employees were also laid off when he began running the place, many of which received very little notice.
Twitter implemented a subscription service that allowed everyday Joes to acquire blue checks by paying $8 a month. The rollout was so chaotic that the app briefly suspended it after parody accounts began posing as public figures. After some tweaking, Twitter brought it back, and as for now, it seems to be a pretty popular option.
There is no official word on how far the username auction has gotten. For the sake of veteran Twitter users, hopefully not very far.
