Twitter owner Elon Musk announced the platform would purge accounts with no activity for “several years.”
The move comes in a series of platform changes made to Twitter after Musk’s October acquisition of the company.
In a Monday tweet, Musk informed users of the change by warning profiles will “probably see a follower count drop” after implementation.
We’re purging accounts that have had no activity at all for several years, so you will probably see follower count drop
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 8, 2023
The tech billionaire also expressed interest in improving the platform’s verification system.
Musk’s moves have been an attempt to increase transparency with users in contrast to Twitter’s previous leadership under former CEO Parag Agrawal along with fellow former CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey.
“We’re trying hard to make your feed as compelling as possible (maximize unregretted user minutes),” Musk wrote in a Sunday poll asking users to rate their experience as “better,” “same,” or “worse” over the last six-months.
We’re trying hard to make your feed as compelling as possible (maximize unregretted user minutes).
How is it now vs 6 months ago?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 7, 2023
Among respondents, nearly 46% said the platform was “better” with 15.9% suggesting no change in the platform, along with just over 38% voting the outlet was doing “worse” than six-months prior.
The tech billionaire also asked users for input on what the platform should “do more of or less of or aren’t including at all.”
Podcaster Lex Fridman suggested the incorporation of different “modes” on the platform users could switch between.
“Sometimes I want fun silly stuff, sometimes I want to see difficult ideas that challenge my worldview, sometimes I want to see technical tweets about AI,” Fridman wrote. “This is tough to do but is good for happiness on platform.”
Other users brought up complaints of “echo chambers,” while other users complained about their timeline’s irrelevant suggested tweets.
Musk has implemented user polling to assist in platform changes since his October acquisition.
In November, Musk reinstated former president Donald Trump’s Twitter account, which was permanently banned by the platform’s previous leadership following the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Over 15 million people voted in the poll, with 51.8 percent in favor of reinstating the former president’s account.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted. “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” which translates to “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
Trump has not used his Twitter account since his reinstatement.
