What is Twitter hoping to achieve by limiting the daily number of tweets you can view?
Here is a tweet from Elon Musk:
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
I read lots of tech news, and while reading this, I remembered another article I read a week or two ago. The article in question was titled: Twitter no longer paying for Google Cloud , posted here. That was not the only post I read about it, just the first. There were many similar posts on multiple platforms. What caught my eye is the paragraph about some contract provisions that would make it easier for Twitter to handle scams and bot accounts on Twitter. The contract had just expired a few hours before the new usage limits got imposed on its users.
Could the expiring agreement and the new policy be connected?
Why The Limits
On the face of it, it makes sense. If you limit new accounts to 300 views per day, there is a chance that data scrapers will be rendered almost useless. But why the limit on verified accounts? In case some people would use verified accounts for data scraping? Or is there another reason?
Maybe after losing support in the battle against the data scraping bots, Twitter is trying to implement policies to combat them without help. Alternatively, it is possible Google has not delivered on its part, and Twitter did not see the results promised from those provisions. While it may be unknown to us, imposing a view cap on new users could serve as an efficient measure against data scraping.
What could be a potential downside to this?
Some users shared that they have been negatively affected by the new policy, but only time will tell if that is the case or just some adjustments some people might want to implement in their workflow.
I assume people would like to clean their now-limited feed soon, removing some user profiles they currently follow and blocking individuals or entities. That would be a logical next step, which will help individuals clean up their feed and not see content they are not interested in.
Will advertisers be affected?
Maybe. But advertisers do not care about the policies of a platform and what it allows its users to do. They only want that platform to know their users well and serve ads to relevant users. I do not have access to their user base data, but if I were to guess, I would say that most of the ad revenue comes from unverified accounts. I do not think that verified accounts click much on ads. I might be wrong.
Going back to my previous comment on how people could try and clean up their feed by removing clutter, this could prove counterproductive for the platform, as the primary way people get exposed to new ideas, products, and content is when they scan through the clutter. You don't know you like it until you see it. But if you customize your feed too much, you might miss it.
Our Opinion
Critiquing a company like Twitter is challenging when we lack comprehensive data to form accurate assumptions.
However, we could criticize one thing: The swiftness with which everything unfolded has raised eyebrows among users who have encountered an unresponsive service and even struggled to access their tweets before learning about the situation. The decision to abruptly impose view limitations overnight, even before adequately informing users, is a glaring misstep. Such impulsive actions are unbecoming of a company that wields significant influence.
It is also difficult not to think about this as a new way for Twitter to try and force users to upgrade to a paid subscription. From the lack of prior notifying users of the changes made, it does not seem to be a move benefiting their users. It could also be a necessary step for the company to deal with internal issues. But even so, this is not a change you throw to your users overnight.
Even if Twitter rolls back the changes, the damage has been done, in our opinion. Many companies will think better before considering Twitter as their primary social environment.
On a more positive note
We want Twitter to live on as what it is. There is a lot of engagement between their users, and it is an excellent platform for creators and people to share their work.
Today I used Twitter as usual without reaching the limit, but I know this is not the case for everyone. If you feel obligated to pay for the upper view limit, weigh your options and make an informed decision. Do not forget that there is also the option of using Twitter less or trying to become more active on a different platform.
Ultimately, Twitter is a company, and companies must generate revenue. Keeping a platform like Twitter running requires resources, which can be costly.