Twitter to Delete Inactive Accounts and Free Up Handles

Twitter has confirmed to TechCrunch that it will soon begin removing inactive accounts, freeing up handles on the platform.

It will message users who have not tweeted in some time, advising them to log in before 11th December 2019 or risk deletion.

According to the social media giant, the move is intended to improve the quality of information flowing through its channels. It wants to host “accurate” and “credible” content.

The plan will only be actioned, however, once executives have decided how to distinguish inactive accounts from those belonging to deceased users. 

A spokesperson told the US-based publication: “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.”

Earlier this year, Twitter trialled swipe-based browsing on its ‘twttr’ prototype platform. It received largely positive feedback from English and Japanese test users.

Read more here.