Twitter is considering selling the names of some social network users' accounts, with the aim of increasing revenue, according to a report published by The New York Times.
According to the newspaper, "the company began discussing the idea of conducting online auctions to sell the names of Twitter users, as some users can obtain certain names that were used by others through the network, and that this step may help Twitter increase revenues."
In a tweet last month, Elon Musk said that Twitter will soon start editing 1.5 billion usernames on the site, indicating that inactive accounts will be deleted.
Musk stated - in response to a tweet via Twitter - that he is interested in editing accounts with the required user names.
Twitter will soon start freeing the name space of 1.5 billion accounts
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
Twitter policy does not allow buying or selling Twitter usernames.
Despite this rule, over the years many people have been able to purchase coveted names via the black market.
Selling coveted usernames has also attracted hackers in the past.
In 2020, a teenager was arrested after hacking the social network and obtaining prominent usernames to sell, as that "hacker" (hacker) hacked the accounts of many public figures, including Musk, former US President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and others.
The newspaper indicated that it is not yet known if Twitter will proceed with this idea, nor has it been revealed that the idea will include all or some of the pseudonyms of network users.
Some websites had previously indicated that the talk of selling pseudonyms for accounts on Twitter began last December.
It should be noted that the Telegram network had taken such a step last October, and some of the accounts' pseudonyms were sold for sums of money, and among the most expensive pseudonyms that were sold was "@news". For $1.8 million.