Shortly after an unexpected outage at Twitter, Elon Musk’s platform introduced new limits on the number of tweets users can send and the number of accounts they can follow. The restrictions may be part of Musk’s directive on “maximizing system stability and robustness.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Twitter recently experienced an unexpected outage that caused users in the United States and Canada to be unable to send messages. An error message informing users that they had exceeded the daily limit for sending tweets was displayed as a result of a widespread interruption to the social media platform. The outage was attributed to Twitter’s cost-cutting and management adjustments under Elon Musk’s new ownership, who bought the company in November. Musk advised his staff to “pause for now on new feature development in favor of maximizing system stability and robustness, especially with the Super Bowl coming up,” in an email leaked to the media.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts speaks during an NFL football Super Bowl team availability, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, in Phoenix. The Eagles will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57 Sunday. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Elon Musk’s Halloween costume (Taylor Hill /Getty)
New restrictions on how frequently users can send tweets and direct messages daily have been implemented after the outage. A daily limit of 2,400 tweets has been introduced, but the site notes: “The daily update limit is further broken down into smaller limits for semi-hourly intervals.”
Uncertainty surrounds the precise number of tweets that may be sent during these windows. The daily cap for direct messages is 500, while the cap for following accounts is 400. Additional site rules may have an impact on these limits for specific users. Additionally, Twitter has set a limit of 5,000 accounts followed per user.
These new restrictions have been added to lessen the load on Twitter’s infrastructure and cut downtime and error pages, according to the company. The company claimed that the limits are intended to increase system robustness and stability, particularly with the upcoming Super Bowl. Users are confused due to the sudden changes, as many are getting error messages when trying to tweet or send direct messages.
The restrictions are an interesting puzzle for a social media company. While restricting user activities may help system stability, Musk is restricting the very activities that make Twitter attractive to its users and profitable with advertisers.
Read more at The Hollywood Reporter here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan