Elon Musk has found a new way to generate revenue by selling old and inactive usernames. This will help the platform earn more money. Musk plans to auction these usernames to the highest bidder. Reports say this is part of Musk’s plan to boost X’s premium subscription. There are millions of inactive accounts on X, but many of their usernames are very unique. Musk will sell these usernames through a “Handle Marketplace.”
First let’s understand what is this username?
When you create an account on X (Formerly Twitter) you also create a username. Username is unique for each account and people can search you on twitter using this username. For example – the username of hellobanker’s twitter account is Hellobanker_in. This is unique username and users can find our X (twitter) account via this link – https://x.com/Hellobanker_in.
But there are several accounts on X which are dormant and not used. New users who sign up on X are not able to select username of their choice. So X has decided to allow dormant users to sell their usernames through a “Handle Marketplace.”
The marketplace will have two types of usernames:
- Priority handles – free for paid users.
- Rare handles – unique and attractive usernames sold through auction.
Some usernames may sell for as much as ₹8 crore, depending on how unique and popular they are. Only X Premium and Premium Business users can use this feature. If a user buys a new username, their old username will become inactive and will not be given to anyone else. But, if a user cancels their premium subscription, their username will return to normal.
X Premium users already have features like the Grok AI chatbot, edit button, verified blue tick, and priority in post reach. By adding the username marketplace, Musk wants to make X even more attractive. Musk has also been trying to reduce spam bots and fake accounts on the platform. According to X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, the company has removed over 1.7 million automated bots. Users can expect a better experience in DMs and on the platform.
This move will give X a new source of revenue and make better use of inactive accounts. Experts see it as an important step to make X a cleaner and more reliable social media platform.
