Twitter has been a mess all weekend. The social media company, which has been a bit of a headache for everyone since acquiring Elon Musk late last year, got even worse after Musk announced there were limits on the number of tweets followers could see. Suddenly, users found they were reaching their “view limit” – not great for a service whose all appeal is the endless scrolling of content. Soon, hashtags like “#RIPTwitter” were trending. The same goes for Bluesky Social, the new Twitter alternative that includes Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey on the board. Speaking of Dorsey, he finally weighed in on the debacle Musk helped create.
And I hope they consider relying on truly censorship-resistant open protocols like Bitcoin and Nostr to help ease that burden. Good for all and essential to keep the internet open.
—jack (@jack) July 1, 2023
“Managing Twitter is hard,” Dorsey wrote. “I wouldn’t wish this stress on anyone. I have confidence that the team is doing its best despite the constraints it has, which are immense. It’s easy to criticize decisions from afar…that I’m guilty of…but I know the goal is to see Twitter thrive. It will be.”
He added, “And I hope they consider leveraging really censorship-resistant open protocols like Bitcoin and Nostr to help alleviate that burden. Good for all and essential to keep the internet open.
On Saturday, as thousands of users reported problems accessing Twitter, Musk announced that due to “extreme levels of data harvesting and system manipulation”, there were new temporary limits on the number of tweets that people could see. “Verified” accounts could see 6,000 posts per day. Unverified accounts would only get 600. New verified accounts, strangely, would get less than that: only 300.
Later that day, he increased them to 8,000, 800, and 400, respectively. Soon after, he increased it to 10,000, 1,000, and 500, respectively.
Now at 10,000, 1,000 and 0.5,000
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2023
Inevitably, Musk then laughed at people complaining about how his service suddenly stank.
Oh the irony of reaching sight limits complaining about sight limits
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2023
Dorsey quit Twitter, which he co-founded in 2006, in 2021. In April, he admitted Musk shouldn’t have bought his former company. But at least he’s not going to kick his ass in a cage fight.
(Via Deadline)