“You’re ruining the app”
Twitter users can only read a limited number of posts – massive criticism of Elon Musk
Elon Musk bought Twitter last year
© Joel Saget / AFP
Twitter has introduced a restriction on reading posts for users of the platform, Elon Musk announced on Saturday. The criticism is not long in coming.
According to him, users with “verified” accounts can temporarily only read a maximum of 6,000 posts per day. For those with unverified accounts, there are only up to 600 posts per day. New unverified accounts therefore only have access to a maximum of 300 posts.
Elon Musk changed the verification system on Twitter
Under Musk, Twitter had changed the allocation of the blue symbols, which once went to accounts of public interest that had been properly verified by Twitter. Users can now get the verification tick with a paid subscription. There is no real verification, only a telephone number is confirmed.
The new restriction caused displeasure among many users because they could no longer access the content shared on the platform as usual. The hashtag #RIPTwitter, which can be translated as “rest in peace, Twitter”, spread in German-speaking countries on Saturday. There was also a lot of criticism in the US, especially under Elon Musk’s post. Among other things, he was accused of ruining the app.
Musk reacted and announced in another post on Twitter that he wanted to increase the limit soon. Users of verified accounts could then read up to 8000 posts per day instead of 6000, those with unverified accounts 800 instead of 600. New unverified accounts would then have access to a maximum of 400 instead of 300 posts.
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A lot has changed in the short message service since Musk took over Twitter a good eight months ago. The repurposing of the blue icons that once denoted a Twitter verified account drew a lot of criticism, including from many of its platform’s most popular users. Many celebrities for whom the ticks were once created refused to pay money for them. On the other hand, many Musk fans and right-wingers who felt oppressed by the “old Twitter regime” jumped on the bandwagon.