Twitter CEO Defends New Tweet-Reading Cap
On Tuesday, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino came out in defense of the newly imposed daily limit on the number of tweets users can read. This policy, announced on July 1st, has been heavily criticized by both users and marketing professionals. Despite this, Yaccarino insists that drastic steps are needed to strengthen the platform, and reassures that advertising has remained stable since the implementation of the cap.
The Reasoning Behind Twitter's New Policy
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, originally announced the limit as a measure to discourage "extreme levels" of data scraping and system manipulation. This move was the first time Yaccarino publicly commented on the matter. Screenshots circulated by Twitter users in the days following Musk's announcement showed that once the limit was hit, they were unable to see any tweets, including those on corporate advertisers' pages. Critics argue this could undermine Yaccarino's efforts to bring in advertisers.
Twitter's Response to User Concerns
Despite the outcry, Twitter maintains that only a small percentage of the platform's users have been affected by these limits. In a blog post released on Tuesday, Twitter argued, "To ensure the authenticity of our user base we must take extreme measures to remove spam and bots from our platform." This limit was enforced shortly after Twitter started requiring users to log into their accounts to view tweets.
Meta Platforms' Direct Challenge to Twitter
In the meantime, Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook (NASDAQ: META), announced plans to launch a microblogging app called Threads. This roll-out poses a direct challenge to Twitter, which has faced heavy criticism since being acquired by Musk for $44 billion in 2022.
Twitter's Silence on Delayed CEO Response
When asked why Yaccarino did not comment on the new policy until three days after its announcement, Twitter chose not to provide a comment. Instead, they responded to Reuters with a poop emoji, a cheeky standard response to media inquiries.
