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| Report: Twitter intends to sell usernames to increase revenue |
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Twitter is considering selling usernames to generate new revenue, as part of owner Elon Musk's efforts to reinvigorate the company's business.
At least in December, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter, there were discussions among Twitter employees about selling certain usernames. The engineers discussed conducting an online auction where users could bid on usernames.
According to the New York Times' source, it's unclear if Twitter will go ahead with its plan and whether the plan will affect all or only part of its usernames. Note that Musk said last month that he wanted to delete inactive accounts on Twitter and free up 1.5 billion usernames.
The social media company has been in turmoil since Musk completed the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Oct. 28. The billionaire is under pressure to complete the acquisition due to the high price of the deal.
To achieve this, Musk cut Twitter's expenses by laying off more than half of the company's workforce, cutting other costs and stopping payments to sellers. At the same time, he tried to find new ways to make money when his Twitter ad revenue plummeted.
These methods include: Launching a new version of Twitter Blue, a monthly subscription service that requires all subscribers to have a pre-saved blue verification badge for high-level users.
Musk has also said he wants to create a "global app" similar to China's WeChat, which more than 1 billion people use to find information, connect with friends, pay and order food.
Unique usernames can be lucrative as they are often picked up by early adopters of social media platforms, with some people and brands willing to pay thousands of dollars for them.