Elon Musk Limits Unverified Twitter Accounts to Reading Just 600 Posts Per Day
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Unverified Twitter users will only be able to view 600 tweets per day, executive chair Elon Musk announced Saturday, citing an effort to “address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation.”
Verified users will be able to view 6,000 posts per day, and new unverified users will be able to view just 300. Musk says the limit will be temporary, but gave no end date.
The decision is the latest effort to favor users who have subscribed to Twitter Blue, Twitter’s $8/month subscription service that verifies users. Many now view the blue check as synonymous with right-wing extremism.
To address extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation, we’ve applied the following temporary limits:
- Verified accounts are limited to reading 6000 posts/day
- Unverified accounts to 600 posts/day
- New unverified accounts to 300/day— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2023
It’s unclear what Twitter defines as “reading.” Users are questioning whether scrolling past a tweet will count towards their limit, or if they can avoid racking up viewed tweets by not clicking on anything.
Users will see “rate limited exceeded” on their feed when they have reached the cap.
Twitter has gone through numerous changes since Musk acquired the company last year. Friday, the company apparently restricted site content to those with accounts, making tweets unavailable to view for anyone who isn’t logged in.
Studies have noted a significant rise in hate speech since Musk took over the social media giant.
Also Read:
Twitter Is Now Requiring an Account to View Site Content
First reactions to the decision appear to be mostly negative. Even verified users, whose tweets-read limit is substantially higher, are frustrated by the latest shift in the company’s policies.
“Stop making twitter pay to win,” one verified user wrote.
stop making twitter pay to win
— trace (@tracedontmiss) July 1, 2023
“Please stop punishing people who want to use your platform,” another wrote.
this is a joke right? so many mutuals cant even see any tweets just using the site normally today, please stop punishing the people who want to use your platform
— groypette (@gpfourteen) July 1, 2023
See more reactions to the decision below:
Return it to normal Elon pic.twitter.com/pxUOGyP1ir
— Billy (@CrazyDREAMER254) July 1, 2023
Elon Musk when it comes to making horrible decisions pic.twitter.com/I6Eo54wdsU https://t.co/2xq1XFtXEX
— َ (@FeelLikeDrew) July 1, 2023
fuck off pic.twitter.com/jjH4bADGcL
— sean yoo (@SeanYoo) July 1, 2023
If I need to read more than 6000 posts per day, I clearly need some kind of intervention anyway.
— Cory Morgan (@CoryBMorgan) July 1, 2023
I wanted to tweet about every Yu-Gi-Oh card ever printed today and you are stopping me from doing that!
— Yugi-Centric (@yugicentric) July 1, 2023
Twitter ever since Elon Musk bought it https://t.co/1Tz6doOrKf pic.twitter.com/bJMzyOwPh3
— trace (@tracedontmiss) July 1, 2023
imagine opening twitter and automatically losing 10% of your daily posts bc i tweeted a thread about pants pic.twitter.com/w9cyCIyqRi
— derek guy (@dieworkwear) July 1, 2023
Best guess: Twitter tried to do something stupid with their API, they messed it up in a way that will take days, so Elon is doing this new “you can only read 600 posts a day” thing as a cover, and he’ll say “after hearing your feedback, we’ve reversed the policy” when it’s fixed.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) July 1, 2023
Twitter’s PR email auto-replied to TheWrap’s request for comment as it always does, with a poop emoji.
Also Read:
Can Linda Yaccarino Lean on Hollywood and Media to Turn Twitter Around?