The unpredictable Elon Musk is stirring up the Twitterverse again, and our readers have had a flurry of inquiries. The mystery? Musk’s recent decision to impose “temporary limits” on the daily tweet view count. What’s the reason behind this? And what does this mean for Twitter users? We’ve got the lowdown.
On July 1, Musk’s latest Twitter storm rolled in as he announced limits on the number of tweets that can be viewed daily. The reason given was to curb “extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation.” Interestingly, this move was hot on the heels of Twitter’s own step to block unlogged visitors, something Musk dubbed a “temporary emergency measure” to thwart data plundering.
What are these Twitter Rate Limits?
As Musk’s new protocol came into play, users were hit with messages about exceeding their daily “rate limit” and consequently, the inability to view more tweets. Initially, verified users were allowed 6,000 tweets, unverified users 600, and new unverified accounts were limited to 300. These figures have since been upped to 10,000, 1,000, and 500, respectively.
Musk may have pinned data scraping as the main cause, but Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, had doubts. Roth expressed skepticism about data scraping causing such drastic issues that Twitter had to hide everything behind a login. He also highlighted that Musk’s meddling with Twitter’s rate limiter isn’t a first-time offence. Roth contends that toying with rate limits is probably the simplest way to throw Twitter off kilter.
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Data scraping aside, another potential culprit has emerged: a bug. Web developer Simon Chang pointed out a Twitter bug that creates a relentless loop of requests, resulting in what he termed as Twitter self-DDOSing. Chang humorously likened the scenario to a comedy of errors, giving rise to what he described as an epic self-own.
How to Navigate Through Twitter’s Rate Limit?
If you’re looking to bypass Twitter’s rate limit, Tweetdeck could be your answer. Logging into your account via Tweetdeck, on desktop or mobile browser, appears to be the workaround. However, do note that experiences may vary as some users have already reported hiccups with their Tweetdeck sessions.
However, with a personality as unpredictable as Musk’s at the helm, things could change at any moment. One thing’s for sure, we at the Internet Patrol will be keeping a close eye on this developing story.
As always, The Internet Patrol is completely free and reader-supported. Your generosity through CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal goes a long way. Receipts will come from ISIPP.
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