Twitter, once a bustling social media platform, is now grappling with user dissatisfaction and a mass exodus following controversial changes implemented by its owner, Elon Musk. Musk’s decision to restrict the number of tweets users can view each day has triggered outrage and led to accusations that the platform’s decline is a result of staff cuts and unpaid bills. Dissatisfied users have sought refuge on alternative platforms such as Jack Dorsey’s Bluesky and Mastodon, a German-owned decentralized platform.
Since Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, he promised to initiate a major overhaul. However, his erratic management style has alienated both users and advertisers, resulting in a decline in revenue. In an effort to boost revenue, Twitter has implemented restrictions on the number of posts users can view and now requires users to log in to access tweets and profiles, deviating from its previous practice of allowing public access.
Musk justified the tweet limits as a temporary measure to combat data scraping, which allegedly caused performance degradation for regular users. However, former senior employee Yoel Roth and others doubt this explanation, suggesting that scraping alone couldn’t have caused such severe performance issues necessitating a login requirement. Musk has been vocal about his concerns regarding the misuse of Twitter data for training artificial intelligence systems.
The imposed tweet limits sparked a backlash, with more than 7,500 users reporting problems using the platform. Musk initially set limits at 600 posts per day for unverified accounts and 6,000 for verified accounts. After receiving backlash, he raised the thresholds to 800 and 8,000, respectively, before finally settling on 1,000 and 10,000 tweets.
The repercussions of the tweet limits quickly became evident as complaints flooded in, impacting user experience and potentially undermining Twitter’s chief executive Linda Yaccarino’s efforts to regain advertiser trust. Advertisers have reduced spending on Twitter due to controversial content changes and the platform’s increasingly divisive atmosphere. Musk brought in Yaccarino, a long-time NBC Universal executive, to help restore advertiser confidence, but the recent restrictions may complicate her task.
Meanwhile, users are flocking to rival platforms such as Bluesky and Mastodon, both of which experienced a surge in sign-ups. Bluesky temporarily paused new registrations due to high traffic, while Mastodon reported a substantial increase in its user base. The allure of decentralized platforms and dissatisfaction with Twitter’s recent changes have prompted users to explore alternative options.
As Twitter navigates these challenges, it faces a critical juncture in its future. The platform’s declining popularity, coupled with user migration, poses significant hurdles for both user engagement and advertising revenue. Whether Twitter can reverse the tide and regain its former prominence remains uncertain.
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Written by:
Dana Sterling-Editor
