Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, announced a temporary restriction on the number of visible tweets users can read in a day to address “extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation.” Unverified accounts are now limited to 1,000 posts, while new unverified accounts can read 500 tweets, and “verified” accounts are limited to 10,000 posts.

Musk initially set stricter limits but adjusted them due to data scraping concerns. Data scraping involves AI companies pulling large amounts of data from platforms like Twitter to train language models, and platforms like Twitter and Reddit are exploring ways to monetize this data.

This move has raised questions about Twitter’s advertising revenue and potential subscription-based models affecting society. Twitter’s previous management was criticized, and Musk bought the company in 2022. He has since reduced the workforce, and despite some glitches, Musk maintains that the site is working fine.

Hence, Real Research, an online survey app, launched a survey on Twitter temporarily restricting visible tweets to gather public opinion on Twitter temporarily restricting visible tweets to limit data scraping.

Highlights:

  • 62.52% experienced Twitter feed changes during Twitter temporarily limiting daily visible tweets period.
  • 61.35% faced information difficulties during the outage or restriction period.
  • 39.04% were neutral about Twitter temporarily limiting daily visible tweets.

According to the survey results on Twitter limiting how many tweets users can see, the temporary restrictions on visible tweets have generated notable reactions among users, with a substantial portion being well aware (33.3%) and others vaguely aware (33.35%) of the implementation. However, an equal percentage (33.35%) remained unaware of the restrictions.

Divergent Views on Twitter’s Visible Tweet Limits

Verified accounts are temporarily limited to viewing only 6,000 posts per day, unverified accounts up to 600, and fresh unverified accounts up to 300. The limitations applied to verified and unverified accounts received mixed responses. A significant majority (64.99%) expressed a desire for higher limits, while a notable minority (35.01%) disagreed.

Should-the-limited-number-of-tweets-be-higher
Figure 1: Should the limited number of tweets be higher?

With a significant majority of users on Twitter (65.04%), a large proportion (61.84%) personally experienced the impact of the temporary restrictions on visible tweets. For many, these restrictions were evident in changes noticed within their Twitter feed during the outage or restriction period (62.52%), and 37.48% were unaffected by Twitter temporarily limiting daily visible tweets.

Read Also: 45% Unlikely To Subscribe to Twitter’s Blue Tick

Temporary Twitter Restrictions Impacted Information Access: Users Faced Challenges in Staying Informed

During a recent period of temporary restrictions on Twitter, users experienced challenges  staying informed about news and current events. A considerable percentage of respondents (61.35%) faced difficulties or challenges in staying informed about news or current events, whereas 38.65% experienced no difficulties.

The-majority-experienced-difficulties-staying-informed-during-this
Figure 2: The majority experienced difficulties staying informed during this period.

When it comes to opinions on Twitter’s decision to implement these temporary restrictions to counter extreme data scraping, respondents’ stances varied. While 28.12% supported the move, a substantial number (32.84%) opposed it, with a significant percentage (39.04%) adopting a neutral stance.

Twitter-temporarily-limiting-daily-visible-tweets
Figure 3: Respondents’ stance on Twitter temporarily limiting daily visible tweets.

The survey data reflects the diverse perspectives and experiences of Twitter users regarding the temporary restrictions on visible tweets. By Twitter temporarily limiting daily visible tweets to address data scraping concerns, it elicited both support and opposition among the user base.

As Twitter continues to address these issues, user feedback and experiences will play a crucial role in shaping future decisions related to data protection and content accessibility on the platform.

Methodology

Survey TitleSurvey on Twitter Temporarily Restricting Visible Tweets
DurationJuly 12, 2023 – July 19, 2023
Number of Participants10,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 21 to 99
Participating Countries Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong Kong) China (Macao), China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greanada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Maluritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.