You have probably heard that Twitter recently suspended more than 70 million accounts on the popular social network site. This came as a response to the flak they received regarding the number of suspicious accounts, particularly automated ones, that exist on the platform. So what exactly does this decision mean? More importantly, what does it mean for your brand?

Mainly, accounts are losing followers. Even the big ones. For example, Barack Obama lost around 2.3 million followers, and Rihanna is down about 2.2 million. The biggest drop, ironically enough, was Twitter itself, which now has 7.7 million fewer followers than before the purge. This culling, which began in May and continues today, is an attempt by Twitter to clean house by targeting automated, fake, unused, and harassing accounts. Turns out, it was a smart move for the social media giant: while the monthly active users dropped by about 1 million, the revenue of Twitter has increased. Likewise, while your brand’s followers may have dropped, your messages – and your audience – just got a lot clearer.

Here’s how:

1. Improved Trust On Both Sides.  With toxic accounts removed, people feel safer consuming and interacting with the content they do receive. And your brand can assume that your messages are getting through to actual people, rather than getting lost on automated bots or fake accounts.
   
2. More Trustworthy  Metrics. While still a vanity metric, follower counts now mean something more concrete.
   
3. Smaller Pond, Bigger Fish. With deflated follower counts, it will be easier to create and grow your brand in the cleaned up space.

All of these ideas have created an environment that is safer, easier, and a lot less muddy for Twitter’s audience – and for your brand. So if you’ve taken the your foot off the gas pedal in the Twitter department, think again: right now the stage is a lot less crowded. 

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