Twitter is planning to take action against accounts that have been inactive for more than six months. This cleanup effort means that Twitter will also make usernames occupied by those inactive accounts available to the general public.
The Verge reports that Twitter has started sending emails to users who have not logged into their account for more than six months. The email warns those users that if they don’t sign in to their account before December 11, their account will be permanently deleted and their username will be made available to the public.
In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said that the company’s goal is to “clean up inactive accounts to present more accurate, credible information” to Twitter users.
“As part of our commitment to serve the public conversation, we’re working to clean up inactive accounts to present more accurate, credible information people can trust across Twitter. Part of this effort is encouraging people to actively log-in and use Twitter when they register an account, as stated in our inactive accounts policy.
We have begun proactive outreach to many accounts who have not logged into Twitter in over six months to inform them that their accounts may be permanently removed due to prolonged inactivity.”
Twitter is being coy about when to actually expect those usernames to be released to the public, though. The company says the account removal process “will happen over many months, not just on a single day.” This means that username you’ve always wanted won’t magically be available on December 11. Instead, it could happen at anytime after the original account is deleted.
The Verge also points out that this change has implications for accounts that belong to the deceased. Twitter, however, says that it does “not currently have a way to memorialize someone’s Twitter account once they have passed on, but the team is thinking about ways to do this.”
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