A common piece of advice I give to companies in our industry is often something they don’t always want to hear. Even if you don’t plan on using a specific social media platform, you should still secure your company’s username on it so no one else can. Now, there is a bit of follow-up to this advice: if your company has a Twitter (now “X”) account you’ve snapped up but are not using, begin posting there now. Read on to learn why.

In the wake of Elon Musk’s tumultuous reign at X, the company has nosedived in profitability. Musk purchased what was then Twitter for $44 billion last fall. Just a year later, the company, rebranded as X, is worth $19 billion. In one of his many attempts to make up that lost revenue, Musk recently announced a somewhat underhanded plan: selling inactive X account handles currently not being used by those who set them up. The company seeks to sell them in an online marketplace for, in some cases, $50,000.

Your company’s inactive X account could be about to go up for sale, meaning anyone – even a competitor – could purchase it and use it as their own. In this rare case, securing your handle might not be enough. Doomsdayers (myself admittedly included) have been predicting X’s demise almost ever since Musk purchased the platform. Its time may still be limited, but just in case, the time to post there is now. If you locked down a username on Twitter since its creation, you might consider becoming active on it this week to keep it from being swept up in Musk’s upcoming purge. Details are currently scant on when it may begin.

In the meantime, consider securing your company’s spot on Threads, one of the more viable possible X replacements. FGIA recently locked down a Threads handle while we navigate how much time we will put into updating it. Creating an account is easy to do if your company already has an Instagram page and can be completed in seconds.