Maria Irene
In a move that can only be characterized as either ‘bold’ or ‘rash’ – depending on which side of the fence you sit, Twitter has stirred the social media cauldron with an unprecedented policy shift. Spearheaded by Elon Musk, the tech maestro now at the helm of the platform, Twitter has introduced a daily limit on the number of tweets users can view.
Under the new scheme, unverified users are capped at 600 tweets per day, new accounts can only view a meager 300, while verified users – those with the illustrious blue tick – can peruse up to 6,000 tweets daily. However, in his typically unpredictable style, Musk later announced plans to loosen these constraints, nudging the daily tweet intake to 8,000 for verified and 800 for the unverified Twitterati.
This abrupt shift in Twitter’s modus operandi has been positioned as a temporary strategy to tackle issues of data scraping and system manipulation, which Musk says are severely hampering the user experience. “Several hundred organizations were scraping Twitter data extremely aggressively, to the point where it was affecting the real user experience,” Musk pointed out, adding that the issue was so severe it required an emergency response of bringing additional servers online.
These words, however, have done little to soothe the Twitter populous. With users banding together in their shared outrage, the platform has been flooded with dissatisfaction, disappointment, and a generous smattering of good old-fashioned sarcasm.
Film producer Will Mavity (@mavericksmovies) quipped, “I know people have said ‘well…this might be it for Twitter’ like 30 times since Musk took over but…this actually might be it for Twitter this time. Just absolutely unusable.” While journalist Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) cleverly echoed the sentiment, “step 1: we charge them for twitter, step 2: we limit the number of posts they can read.”
Even those managing to see the lighter side, such as comedian Wampler™ (@ScottWamplerRIP), seem disillusioned, “Ah, Twitter, where it is time to follow precisely 600 people and read exactly one of their posts per day and then log off for another 24 hours.”
Is the Twittersphere’s outcry justified? As always, the issue is multi-faceted. This abrupt imposition on Twitter’s essential openness could be perceived as an attempt to strong-arm users into subscribing to Twitter’s new paid service, Twitter Blue. The new regulations could also serve as a protective measure against the increasing data scraping problem and an effective counter to system manipulation. Yet, they also throw up new complications, such as the ambiguity surrounding the limits on viewing ads and the definition of a “new” account.
Meanwhile, the response of Twitter’s competitors has been predictable. Platforms like Truth Social and Bluesky have seen a surge in new users, suggesting that the exodus from Twitter may already have begun. Matthew Sweet (@DrMatthewSweet) humorously paints Musk as a hapless Scooby Doo villain, “Elon Musk is like a Scooby Doo villain who dresses up as a ghost to scare everyone away from the theme park but forgets that his business is theme parks.”
While the dust is yet to settle, one thing remains clear – Twitter’s policy change represents a monumental shift in social media dynamics. It presents a paradox – while curbing the chaos of rampant data scraping, it may simultaneously alienate users and tip the scales in favor of competitor platforms.
Public opinion remains polarized, and the fate of Twitter hangs in the balance. Will this be seen as a temporary turbulence in the stormy seas of social media or an ill-advised strategy that transforms into a cautionary tale for future tech behemoths? Only time – and tweets – will tell. The potential for metamorphosis is high, but the risks are equally stark. Whether this bold strategy pays dividends or becomes an infamous disaster, it’s clear that the story of Twitter’s ‘Tweet Diet’ is far from over.
