Elon Musk announced new limits on the number of posts Twitter users will be able to read each day in an effort to fight what he calls “extreme levels of data scraping” and “system manipulation.” The announcement from the billionaire owner of Twitter comes just a day after the social media platform decided to make it impossible for anyone without a Twitter account to read tweets.
Musk explained that “verified” Twitter users would be limited to reading 6,000 posts per day, regular users would be limited to reading 600 posts per day and newly created accounts would be limited to reading 300 posts per day.
It should be noted that while Musk is using the term “verified,” Twitter doesn’t actually verify the identity of anyone with a blue checkmark since he took over the company back in October. Musk began charging people $8 per month to receive a blue tick mark, which has led to more misinformation being spread on Twitter.
It’s not immediately clear how many posts the average Twitter user reads per day, but some users complained about already hitting the limits on Saturday. It appears, however, that Tweetdeck and third-party apps still permit unverified users access to more than six hundred posts each day.
Musk has previously said he wanted Twitter to become a space where people spend the most “unregretted” user minutes online, a metric that’s not typically measured in the world of social media advertising.
Many Twitter users were not happy with Musk’s announcement about limiting the number of tweets any given user can read in a day.
“I scroll through about 100 posts on my timeline per minute. If he keeps this it will literally end Twitter,” one user complained.
“It’s a social media app, selling ads based on impressions and time spent on the app, that is going to make people use the app less. Unreal,” another user pointed out.
“This is nuts,” yet another user tweeted.
Jay Rosen from the media commented that Twitter Blue – which gives you a blue tick at $8 a month – was performing poorly and it might be possible to increase subscribers.
Other users joked about Twitter giving out tweet “rations” like in a Communist dictatorship.
Some users joked about how this new move by Musk would allow them to break the “addiction” of Twitter.
“Your addiction is about to be broken. All of us will be set free. See you guys at the park,” one user joked.
Musk himself replied to that user, with “Touch grass again.”
The decision may have an impact on breaking news. This decision will hinder the dissemination of vital information, according to a Indiana meteorologist. This user shared screenshots of him trying to log into the National Weather Service Indianapolis account, but it was not possible. displayed a notice that reads, “rate limit exceeded.”
Musk gave Linda Yaccarino the position of CEO at Twitter in early June. However, it appears that the billionaire still makes many key decisions for the social media firm. Yaccarino, who previously worked for NBC Universal, was brought in to calm advertisers’ nerves after they became concerned about the drastic changes Musk implemented to Twitter shortly after he acquired it.
Musk fired thousands of staff and has reportedly stopped paying many of Twitter’s bills in a bid to make the company profitable. But, needless to say, that hasn’t made Twitter’s vendors and landlords very happy. After a landlord in Boulder, Colorado sued Twitter recently, Twitter’s parent company X counter-sued over its eviction.
Twitter replied to email questions on Saturday by sending a poop emoticon, an automated reply set up in the software of the 52-year old owner who purchased the social media platform. I’ll update this article if I get any more news about how these new limits are changing the user experience.
SME Paid Under