Elon Musk announces temporary daily limits on Twitter

Twitter has temporarily restricted the number of tweets users can read in a day. The social media platform's owner Elon Musk says the limits are designed to put a stop to data scraping and discourage system manipulation.

Apparently, Musk believes this move will restrict the manipulation of public opinion and the spread of misinformation on the microblogging website. The limits are based on your account type. In his tweet, the 52-year-old business magnate noted that verified accounts can read 6,000 posts per day.

If your Twitter account is unverified, you can read 600 posts per day. However, new unverified accounts can read only 300 tweets every day. It is worth noting that the system counts a tweet read when you view a tweet that appears on your timeline, in your notifications, or in a search result.

The tweet read limits get a mixed reaction

According to a BBC report, Musk initially set stricter limits but changed these shortly after announcing the move. As expected, the limits have received mixed reactions, with some users claiming the limits will help protect the platform's integrity.

However, some users have criticised the limits that they claim are too restrictive and will make following news and current events harder. Musk, on the other hand, says the move was necessary.

According to the Twitter boss, the platform was "getting data pillaged so much that it was degrading service for normal users." Regardless, the new limits will probably change the overall user experience. For example, users following several accounts are likely to struggle in terms of keeping up with the latest tweets.

Notably, the limits will make discovering new content even harder. Also, when users are allowed to read only a certain number of tweets per day, they aren't likely to see tweets from accounts they don't follow yet. In other words, the new rule will limit the diversity of content for a user.

The overall impact on the Twitter community

Users are less likely to use Twitter since they will not be able to keep up with the latest tweets. As a result, the folks at GizChina believe there could be a decline in the number of Twitter users. Aside from this, Twitter has been catching flak for not paying bonuses to its employees. However, Twitter is sparing no effort to retain its users.

In line with this, the platform is gearing up to pay verified content creators for ads in their replies. Still, there is a possibility that the limits could make it harder for Twitter to attract new users. A day after announcing the tweet limits, Musk urged the Twitterverse to step away from their phones and spend time with their friends and family instead.

The restriction will result in users being locked out of the platform for the rest of the day after reaching their daily limit. "Twitter down" started trending on the social media platform shortly after the announcement. Some users claimed they were unable to access the site. At one point, nearly 7,500 people reported problems with Twitter, according to Downdetector.

Musk's latest tweet, urging people to stop using Twitter for a while and spend time with family and friends triggered a meme fest in the comments section. A considerable number of users said they wanted to view "just one more tweet."

Likewise, some users pointed out that the new policy affected businesses that are trying to promote their ventures on Twitter since they won't be able to reach users. To put it in context, a user who follows 10,000 accounts will be able to view and read only 60 tweets from each account per day. So, the user will not be able to stay up-to-date on the latest tweets from all the accounts they follow.

According to a Twitter user, the tweet read limits are a good idea in theory. However, the user says they are worried about how the new rule will impact the overall user experience in practice. A content creator on Twitter said they are concerned that the tweet read limits will make it harder for them to reach their audience.