Twitter, the popular social media platform, recently experienced widespread outages and connectivity issues that left thousands of users frustrated and unable to access the site. The problems began early in the morning, with reports flooding in from users across several countries. The hashtags “#TwitterDown” and “Rate Limit Exceeded” quickly became trending topics on the app in the US, highlighting the severity of the situation. In this article, we will delve into the causes behind these outages, explore the concept of rate limits on Twitter, and discuss the policy changes implemented by billionaire owner Elon Musk.
The Outages: A Frustrating Experience for Users
Reports of Twitter outages started pouring in around 8 am EST, according to DownDetector, a website that tracks service disruptions. As the morning progressed, the number of outage reports continued to rise, reaching over 7,400 by noon EST. Users, including CNN journalists, encountered error messages stating that their feeds weren’t loading and that they were rate limited or unable to retrieve tweets. The maturity of the reported problems was on the website, counting 44, followed by 39 problems reported on the app.
Unveiling Elon Musk’s Policy Changes
Amidst the mounting frustration from druggies, Elon Musk, the billionaire proprietor of Twitter, took to the platform to address the issues. In a tweet, Musk revealed that temporary limits had been enforced to combat inordinate data scraping and system manipulation. Verified accounts were now confined to reading 6,000 posts per day, while unverified accounts were limited to 600 posts per day. New unverified accounts faced an indeed lower limit of 300 posts per day.Â
Introducing Twitter Blue: A Revenue-Boosting Strategy
Elon Musk’s tweet also mentioned the introduction of the Twitter Blue subscription service, which offered users a blue verification check mark. This verification check mark would grant users access to higher rate limits, enticing them to sign up for the subscription service. While the initial rate limits were relatively low, Musk later announced plans to increase the limits to 8,000 tweets per day for verified users, 800 for unverified accounts, and 400 for new unverified accounts.
User Frustration and Trending Topics
The connectivity issues and rate limits imposed by Twitter sparked frustration among users, leading to the emergence of various trending topics on the platform. Alongside “#TwitterDown” and “Rate Limit Exceeded,” other trending topics in the US included “Wtf Twitter” and “Thanks Elon.” These hashtags served as a testament to the user’s dissatisfaction with the ongoing problems and the perceived lack of transparency from the platform.
Twitter’s Recent Restriction on Access
Interestingly, just a day before the outages, Twitter appeared to circumscribe access to its platform for druggies who weren’t logged into an account. It remains unclear whether this change was a purposeful policy update or a glitch. nonetheless, this restriction added to the frustration endured by druggies, who were formerly scuffling with limited access and rate limits.
Past Outages and the Platform’s Revival Efforts
This recent bout of service disruptions isn’t the first time Twitter has faced such challenges. In March, Twitter experienced wide-ranging service disruptions, with over 8,000 users reporting issues. These outages marked one of the largest since Elon Musk assumed ownership of the platform. It is worth noting that Musk has been actively working to revitalize Twitter, which has seen an exodus of advertisers. This effort includes the appointment of a new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, in a bid to breathe new life into the platform.
Understanding Rate Limits on Twitter
To comprehend the significance of the rate limit restrictions imposed by Twitter, it is essential to grasp the concept of rate limits themselves. Rate limits are measures put in place by platforms like Twitter to control the number of requests a user can make within a specific time frame. These limits exist to prevent abuse, data scraping, and system manipulation that could potentially undermine the platform’s functionality and user experience.
Conclusion
The recent Twitter outages and connectivity issues have undoubtedly caused frustration and inconvenience for users across the globe. Elon Musk’s policy changes, including the introduction of rate limits and the Twitter Blue subscription service, aimed to address data scraping and system manipulation concerns while also exploring new revenue streams for the platform. As Twitter continues to grapple with these challenges, the appointment of a new CEO signals a commitment to revitalizing the platform and regaining the trust of users and advertisers alike. While the recent outages have shed light on the complexities of maintaining a social media giant like Twitter, it is clear that efforts are being made to overcome these obstacles and provide a seamless user experience in the future.
