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Much like domain names, there is a finite number of Twitter account names available to the public. The account name acts as another form of online real estate. With short and simple pieces of information being passed to millions of people worldwide, it’s easy to see why people and businesses are willing to cough up a good amount of money for an account name that’s just right. The website has grown so influential, that even the North Korean government has set up an account.

In the spring of 2009, London-based entrepreneur James Cox held one of the most followed Twitter accounts, named CNNbrk, which tweeted about CNN’s breaking news stories. It was acquired by CNN, who could greatly increase their site’s traffic with nearly one million twitter followers. The details aren’t completely clear, because selling and exchanging accounts is against Twitter’s rules.

Even though it’s technically against Twitter’s terms of service, markets for buying and selling Twitter names have grown with the site. One website, called Tweexchange, works as an online account exchange for Twitter users, but it’s caught up in controversy with Twitter, because it breaks their terms of service. Another online application, known as TweetValue, uses information such as followers and number of tweets, and calculates an estimated value of an individual’s Twitter account. Barack Obama rings in at the highest estimated value, even though he has the 4th most followers (After Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, and Ashton Kutcher).

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