Twitter TweetDeck Access Restricted to Verified, Subscribing Users
Starting from August, free users will no longer have access to Twitter’s TweetDeck client, as the company will restrict its usage to paid subscribers. This decision will prevent non-paying users from utilizing the advanced alternative to Twitter’s main consumer app.
Twitter announced the change alongside news that an updated version of TweetDeck would begin rolling out to users with new features as the Elon Musk-owned company continues to try to convert users to its $8-a-month Twitter Blue service.
Several features have been placed behind a paywall in recent months, most notably Twitter’s iconic blue verified checkmarks, as Musk and new CEO Linda Yaccarino try to offset declining ad revenue.
The turmoil following Musk’s takeover also created an opportunity for competitors to capture disgruntled users. Meta Platforms Inc. released a competing product just this week.
Twitter limits the number of tweets users can see each day
Twitter is putting a temporary limit on the number of tweets accounts can see per day, which has caused a backlash from some users.
Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted Saturday that unverified users can see up to 600 posts daily, while Twitter Blue subscribers can see 6,000 posts “regarding extreme data scraping” and “system manipulation.” He later added that the limits would be increased to 800 and 8,000, but did not specify how long the limits would last.
About five hours later, Musk revised the restrictions again, increasing the number of unverified accounts to 1,000 and 10,000 verified users.
Users began reporting problems on the social media site earlier on Saturday after being notified that they had exceeded their “speed limit”. According to Downdetector, notifications peaked at nearly 7,000 around 11:30 a.m. in New York before falling. Following Musk’s announcement of the restrictions, the site’s trending topics were dominated by complaints, with users writing “#TwitterDown” and “RIP Twitter.”
The move follows other restrictions introduced earlier this week, when Twitter blocked users without an account from viewing tweets and profiles. The procedure, which Musk said was temporary, was put in place to prevent people from scraping data from the site.
Musk has made a number of changes to Twitter since he bought the company and became CEO in 2022. Perhaps most notably, the introduction of premium accounts that charge users $8 a month, called Twitter Blue, and the ability for users to create subscriber-only content.
