A Twitter User Turned Down Offers to Sell His Popular Account. Elon Musk's X Just 'Ripped It Away' — Here's How He's Striking Back.Jeremy Vaught, director of engineering at the nonprofit Life Happens, created his @music handle more than a decade ago.
ByAmanda Breen•
Key Takeaways
- Vaught started his account to promote independent live music on "Second Life."
- He amassed about 450,000 followers and turned down $5,000 offers to sell the handle.
Last week, veteran Twitter user Gene X. Hwanglost his @X handleto Elon Musk's X — and he's not alone.
Although it's unclear exactly how many formerTwitterusers might have had coveted accounts taken from them, Jeremy Vaught, director of engineering at the nonprofit Life Happens, joined them when X "ripped away" his 16-year-old @music handle,Ars Technicareported.
Related:Bright X Sign at Twitter HQ Reportedly Went Up Without Permits
Vaught started the @music account in 2007 to promote independent music being performed live in the video gameSecond Life, but he ultimately transitioned to posting about music in general and amassed roughly 450,000 followers, per the outlet.
Vaught said perks with the account were few (he'd receive headphones in exchange for a promotion, for example), but he turned down offers to purchase it — the highest to the tune of $5,000 — because selling was against Twitter policy and "he figured there was more value in keeping the account."
Earlier this year, Twitter toyed with the idea of auctioning offusernames to generate revenue afterMusksaid he wanted to remove inactive accounts and free up 1.5 billion handles, some of which might have value depending on their popularity,The New York Timesreported.
But it appears that the auction never moved forward — and now X is taking matters into its own hands.
Vaught's @music account is now affiliated with X Corp and boasts 11 million followers; he was given the new handle @musicman, which he called "probably the least worst" of the optionsX offered to him, per Ars Technica.
Related:Elon Musk Goes Live, Lifts Weights in Bizarre Video | Entrepreneur
Vaught also told the outlet Twitter is still his "preferred social media," but he did exact some revenge: He canceled his Twitter Blue Subscription to avoid "paying [Elon Musk] 11 bucks a month."
