Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino supports controversial tweet-reading limit amidst backlash

Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, announced a temporary cap on the number of tweets users can read in a day, a recent move that sparked significant criticism. However, when many assumed that it was going to undermine efforts by new CEO Linda Yaccarino to attract advertisers and marketing industry professionals, she took to the platform on Tuesday to defend the decision and address concerns raised by users and marketing professionals. 

The restriction, which came into effect on July 1, limited most users to reading just 600 tweets per day. However, this limit proved to be a mere inconvenience for many users, as they hit the cap within an hour or less. Screenshots shared on Twitter showcased frustrated users unable to view any tweets, including those from corporate advertisers. This development has raised concerns among marketing professionals, who fear it could undermine Yaccarino’s efforts to attract advertisers to the platform.

Yaccarino, in her first public comment on the matter, underscored the need for “big moves” to strengthen the platform and maintain Twitter’s mission. She said, “When you have a mission like Twitter — you need to make big moves to keep strengthening the platform.” Yaccarino’s support of the tweet limits aligns with Musk’s intention to deter excessive data scraping and system manipulation on the platform.

Twitter defended the temporary cap, stating that only a small percentage of users have been affected by the limitations. The company explained that the measures were necessary to combat spam and bot activity, ensuring the authenticity of the user base. In a blog post, Twitter stated, “To ensure the authenticity of our user base, we must take extreme measures to remove spam and bots from our platform.”

Elon Musk, on the day of the announcement, further clarified the tweet limits. Verified Twitter accounts were restricted to reading 6,000 posts per day, while unverified accounts had a limit of 600 posts. Additionally, new and unverified accounts faced an even lower limit of 300 posts. However, in a series of subsequent tweets, Musk increased the limits to 8,000 for verified accounts, 800 for unverified accounts, and 400 for new unverified accounts. 

Finally, he raised the limits once again to 10,000 for verified accounts, 1,000 for unverified accounts, and 500 for new unverified users. The move by Twitter comes at a crucial time when competitors are seeking to challenge its dominance. Meta recently announced its plans to launch a microblogging app called Threads, directly taking on Twitter. This rollout poses a significant challenge to Twitter, particularly after Musk acquires the company for $44 billion in 2022.