New Twitter rule upsets users who are now limited on how many tweets are viewed daily
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Many Twitter users were confused and angry this past weekend, after CEO Elon Musk announced more changes to the app -- now limiting the number of tweets users can view on a daily basis.
These new changes may affect the way key agencies and authorities across the world reach members in their community, as many have relied heavily on the app over the years to share important information with the public.
"It sort of defeats the purpose of Twitter, right? The point of Twitter was that I could scroll on it for 45 minutes," explained Michael Mirer, communications assistance professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
For those who check their phones right when they wake up to get the morning news of the day, they will no longer see new information on Twitter after a certain point, due to the new change.
"That's how I start my day out, I watch the news and I get my news updates all in the morning but if something happens in the afternoon and then I can't get back on Twitter, I have no idea what's going on," said Sgt. Kristi Wilcox, public information officer at Racine Police Department.
On Saturday morning, Musk announced he would limit the number of tweets users can view, saying it would "address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation."
Sgt. Wilcox says, this is a disservice to the community, especially when it comes to alerting others of emergencies.
"Several months back there was a shooting at one of our local high schools, so, even though that wasn't in the city I still put updates out, 'parents can go here to pick up their children' and it seemed to be helpful for them, but again, that was later on in the afternoon, and one was in the morning," she explained.
Professor Mirer said he's been an active Twitter user since 2009. He said the app used to be a huge tool for academics to research and connect with others, but recent changes have caused Twitter to go downhill.
Musk announced that verified accounts are limited to reading 6,000 posts per day, while unverified accounts will only see 600 a day and new unverified accounts will see 300.
"I think one of the big values of it was during sort of breaking news, live situations where we're all sort of reacting in real time and there's going to be more than 600 reactions, that's just how Twitter is set up," Mirer said.
Musk later tweeted that rate limits would soon increase to 8,000 for verified users, 800 for unverified and 400 for new unverified accounts.