social media platform Twitter has undergone several changes since being taken over by a new owner in 2022. Now, a new plan could see the company selling an account-related item for the first time.

What happened: Tesla chairman Elon Musk has been pushing for changes and revenue increases at Twitter since acquiring the social media platform $44 billion in 2022.

Twitter could sell usernames from old accounts via online auctions, so a report from the New York Times.

Sources say talks to sell usernames have been in the works since December.

The report follows comments from Musk that he wanted to free up 1.5 billion usernames by deleting inactive accounts.

“These are apparent account deletions with no tweets and no sign-up for years,” Musk also tweeted.

Musk’s tweets sparked concerns about inactive accounts owned by people who have since died and whether the accounts might remain as some kind of tribute.

A list of potential usernames has not been released by Twitter or Musk, but will draw a lot of attention when released.

Related link: Elon Musk’s reasons for buying Twitter: ‘I didn’t do it to make money, I did it to try and help humanity’

Why it matters: The big question will be how valuable the 1.5 billion usernames are. The inactive accounts could contain one-word usernames, names of people, and potential brands that could be valuable to the right owner.

Twitter usernames are free to create, but must be unique, which means some people may not be able to get their preferred account and must use something less memorable or identifiable.

Twitter does not allow usernames to be bought or sold between users or through marketplaces. Though it hasn’t been reported or said by Musk, there’s a possibility that Twitter could eventually allow username transactions and cut payments as a new revenue stream.

Internet domains have become popular over the years to anticipate demand and can…