Why are brands and celebrities always able to get short usernames that were definitely taken before? What happens to the previous owner of the username?

Question

Why are brands and celebrities always able to get short usernames that were definitely taken before? What happens to the previous owner of the username?

In: 23

Answer 1

Platforms make money off ads which require users to engage. You never really “own” the user name. It’s in their terms of service when you sign up.

If Beyonce wants to join Twitter, her tweeting from @beyonce where she’s easily found instead of @beyonce36488_5764 is a lot more valuable for engagement and ad money.