Twitter, one of the world’s biggest social networking platforms, acquired by Elon Musk last October, is eyeing to boost revenue by selling usernames via online auctions, a report from The New York Times revealed.
The New York Times cited “two people with knowledge of the plan.”
Selling usernames or handles can be a huge business, giving a particular business that wants to venture into this vast revenue potential. People will sometimes take to a social media network early and create an account with a specific handle so they can hassle brands or other sizable entities for thousands to acquire the coveted username. The report further noted that handles are also sometimes bought and sold on black markets.
Issues with Twitter since Musk’s purchase
Twitter has had a chaotic few months after it was purchased by Musk during the fall of last year. For one, the social media network has been sued for being unable to pay rent and not paying a marketing firm. It also has faced reports that severance payouts for its thousands of staff laid off have not been as expected. It has also launched programs only to get revamped, such as Twitter Blue. Twitter reportedly owns $136,260 in unpaid rent, according to the lawsuit.
Furthermore, the company’s headquarters in New York City reportedly did not have toilet paper around the end of last year. The social networking platform has also seen a decline in advertising revenue. Ninety-two percent of Twitter’s revenue was sourced out from advertising in 2022’s first quarter, according to an April quarterly filing.
Previously, the world’s wealthiest man also raged about fake and “bot” accounts prior to purchasing to company, and tweeted in December, “Twitter will soon start freeing the name space of 1.5 billion accounts… These are obvious account deletions with no tweets & no log in for years.”
Also, according to Treasury filings The New York Times has acquired, it is also potentially planning to add processing payments from its users.
The sources told the media outlet the company could auction off usernames. Currently, the rules of Twitter prevent the selling of usernames. But Twitter is owned by Musk now.
Twitter and Israel
Well, at least one noteworthy username swap has already happened. The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the incumbent prime minister of Israel who was recently sworn in again in the post, reportedly initiated the country’s purchase of the Twitter handle @Israel, around 12 years ago.
The report said that, in 2010, when the Israeli prime minister also held the position, his office contacted a man named Israel Meléndez, who, in 2007, had created an account with the handle “Israel.”
Meléndez stated Netanyahu sent him direct messages, and he sold the handle to the country for a “five zeroes” sum, in spite of being against the policy of the company.
As of press time, despite several years since it has transpired, Twitter is yet to comment on this matter.
However, Israel still has the Twitter handle. The state’s bio indicates, “yes, it’s really us.”
