Twitter users got a startle when they woke up to "rate exceeded" messages this morning. This caused a ton of confusion and questioning tweets.
We don’t like this. pic.twitter.com/lbc6y0MlAq
— Shawn Quinn (@ShawnQuinn83) July 1, 2023
Well, no more Twitter for me today. Apparently I read too much. pic.twitter.com/2s0PHIYisO
— Nashville Angela (@angelanashtn) July 1, 2023
Elon Musk quckly explained why accounts are now seeing this message and restrictions on accounts going forward.
To address extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation, we’ve applied the following temporary limits:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2023
- Verified accounts are limited to reading 6000 posts/day
- Unverified accounts to 600 posts/day
- New unverified accounts to 300/day
We must fix this soon, not sustainable
— Elon Musk (Parody) (@ElonMuskAOC) July 1, 2023
It more confusing than anything else. If we understood the issue better, maybe we could all help fix it?
— melie doyle (@MelieDoyle) July 1, 2023
What’s really going on?
I will try to figure it out… brb
Wow! Big alternations to account usage, for sure. Understandably, it is important to protect data and ensure user privacy settings, but this will be an adjustment.
How long is “temporary”? And does every tweet a user scrolls passed count?
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 1, 2023
Because 300-600 for unverified users seems REALLY low.
but Elon, i’m illiterate. what then?
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) July 1, 2023
Who on earth is reading and posting that much? 😂
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) July 1, 2023
Remarks ranged from tongue in cheek to panic to questions about who actually spends that much time on Twitter each day. Heh.
Fix the DM spam! pic.twitter.com/JLTGTfRxW6
— Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) July 1, 2023
Other users suggested bigger issues they would prefer Elon focus on.
Elon Musk protecting Twitter users from the bots, scammers, and manipulators. 🐢🎨 pic.twitter.com/libmuuufqJ
— Misha Fitton (@MishaFitton) July 1, 2023
More complimentary users sang the praises of Elon for taking steps to protect the platform.
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
This feels like a personal attack on insomniacs and Twitchy writers.
To make everyone buy Twitter blue, we’ve applied the following temporary limits:
— Billy Green (@BillyGrene) July 1, 2023
- Verified accounts are limited to reading 6M posts/day
- Unverified accounts to 5 posts/day
- New unverified accounts to 3/day
Limiting Twitter features will not make poor people suddenly get money for Twitter-Blue Elon Musk https://t.co/kpHzg9f7S8 pic.twitter.com/7ivIoFUsS2
— Mr Black⁛ (@MrBlackOG) July 1, 2023
The cynical on Twitter doubted any of these moves were truly made for user safety, but rather to coerce more tweeps into paying for Twitter. Those subscribed to Twitter Blue have the ability to read and interact 10 times more than non paying users.
The world’s richest man has taken possession of a global social media platform used by the world’s journalists, scientists, governments, private citizens, businesses, religions, militaries and health/emergency services to share all vital information—It’s going as you might expect
— Luke Zaleski (@ZaleskiLuke) July 1, 2023
The biggest hysterics on Twitter, pundits and journalists, really spun out after the announcement. Don't forget to take your meds today, corporate media flacks.
200 posts in the morning
— Chemical Brother 👌 (@chemicalbrodar) July 1, 2023
200 in the afternoon
200 in the night pic.twitter.com/lCtvShqV2g
This is awesome. He really is making humanity better by fighting social media addiction. I wish TikTok and instagram would do the same! 🤣
— Farhad Noorzay 🏀 (@farhadnoorzay) July 1, 2023
Unverified accounts after viewing 599 posts in a day. pic.twitter.com/ikvbL7Ryxr
— DME 🇳🇦 (@dme_363) July 1, 2023
Pace yourself, tweeps. This is a good time to go outside and enjoy the sun and touch grass.
Can we get a readometer so we can know how close we are to becoming a complete loser? https://t.co/A9ZXOS3r1c
— Carpe Donktum🔹 (@CarpeDonktum) July 1, 2023
Ha! Best idea!
Due to Elon Musk applying temporary reading limits, we'll be temporary moving to @discord.
— WWE SuperCard News - Information, Updates, & More (@WWESCNews) July 1, 2023
Why? This change hurts our posts as less people will see it as with Discord, everyone in the server can see them. #WWESuperCard
Join our Discord Server here
🔗 https://t.co/b3pAm3N2IX https://t.co/gqYmfffmm1
Some large accounts have begun to announce movement to other platforms so their followers are not limited in interacting with them.
I couldn’t even imagine a more effective way of killing this app aside from just shutting it down outright. This is a huge step in self destruction, I can’t help but be impressed https://t.co/E5M9bNRU7b
— Charlie (@MoistCr1TiKaL) July 1, 2023
Why did you even buy Twitter if you’re just gonna slowly destroy it? https://t.co/qDSHvLkOrD
— Dame Da Cresh | No.1 Nishk Fan (@CreshMaguire) July 1, 2023
Many users predict this is the beginning of the end to the app and this will be looked back upon as a terrible move by Elon. Only time will tell.
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