With Twitter owner Elon Musk announcing a temporary limit on the number of tweets users are allowed to read in a day, the social media platform faced a wave of mockery in the form of memes and trending hashtags such as #RIPTwitter and #GoodbyeTwitter. Announcing the decision on Saturday, July 1, Musk justified it by stating that it was meant to address “extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation” on the website. He claimed that excessive data scraping was adversely impacting the platform’s performance for regular users. Unverified accounts on Twitter can now only view up to 1,000 posts in a day.
As Twitter users learned of the viewing restrictions, many of them expressed their discontent through memes, suggesting that Musk’s decision was arbitrary and would drive users away from Twitter if the reading limit continues. Some users also suggested that this was a way for Musk to force users to pay for the Twitter Blue subscription. Amid the backlash, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey reacted to the development and said that running Twitter was “hard.”
Dorsey, who has previously criticised Musk’s leadership at Twitter on a few occasions, wrote: “Running Twitter is hard. I don’t wish that stress upon anyone. I trust that the team is doing their best under the constraints they have, which are immense. It’s easy to critique the decisions from afar…which I’m guilty of…but I know the goal is to see Twitter thrive. It will,” Jack tweeted. He went on to say, “And I do hope they consider building on truly censorship-resistant open protocols like bitcoin and nostr to help ease that burden. Good for all, and critical to preserve the open internet.”
While Musk initially announced a viewing limit of 600 posts for unverified users, he later announced that they would be increased to 800 and then 1,000. Some users saw this as an attempt to deal with the backlash by users threatening to leave Twitter for other social media platforms. Other users meanwhile began to share strategies for making the most of the limited access to Twitter.
#RateLimitExceeded
— ... (@kingstar1882) July 2, 2023
It’s time to say goodbye#RIPTwitter #TwitterDown pic.twitter.com/QyPqUFVPs0
Elon mask playing with twitter be like #TwitterDown #RateLimitExceeded #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/J563kTRdWN
— Cinema Circuit (@Cinema_Circuit) July 2, 2023
Basically what Elon's tweet is saying here,is if you don't pay the 8 bucks a month for the Twitter blue checkmark,then your Twitter experience on a daily basis will be short,and if you don't pay me the 8 bucks a month then I really don't want you on my platform#RIPTwitter https://t.co/HnBu3gO6tV
— Jim Puritan Justice Maddox (@jimlibertarian) July 1, 2023
People returning to Facebook and Myspace after Elon Musk ruined Twitter .#RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/ZfeDYZCAkw
— ❂ Yübbîę Umoh ❂ (@Yubbie007) July 1, 2023
Me returning to Myspace after Elon Musk ruined Twitter. #RIPTwitter #RateLimitExceeded
— Digital Jedi (@annideleon) July 2, 2023
pic.twitter.com/zl9aVWI1Xi
we can’t even read our own tweets??
— Karan (@_k_rajput) July 1, 2023
even the titanic band could listen to their own music on the way down #RIPTwitter #RateLimitExceeded #TwitterDown pic.twitter.com/JN873MKAr6
Well, that's functionally the end of Twitter as a website
— Health Nerd (@GidMK) July 1, 2023
It's been a wild ride. You were all great #GoodbyeTwitter pic.twitter.com/4I2kbA0ktb
So Twitter is a shit show because Elon #RateLimitExceeded everyone and he's losing so many users posting #GoodbyeTwitter that he keeps backpedaling the "temporary" limit.
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) July 1, 2023
People saying this is because he refused to pay Google Cloud bill and he's turning it into Truth Social pic.twitter.com/WqR2IrY3Zx
I don’t remember having limitations and restrictions before the anti limitations and restrictions guy bought the platform.
— abortions & guns are BOTH ok. (@JoshCox69) July 1, 2023
#GoodbyeTwitter pic.twitter.com/yM6uuuOHiv
More important than ever to block:
— HeadOnFire (@HeadOnFire3) July 1, 2023
-Advertisers
-Blue checks
-boring tweeters
-Elon
Don't miss good tweets 'cause you scrolled thru too many useless ones.
#RateLimitExceeded #GoodByeTwitter pic.twitter.com/FRSeGKLHlX
me becoming one with nature after my rate limit exceeds: #RateLimitExceeded #goodbyetwitter pic.twitter.com/xLNJNmRYJ7
— mr. dude (@enchantmentaebl) July 1, 2023
Twitter right now. #GoodbyeTwitter #RateLimitExceeded #RIPTwitter #ElmoX pic.twitter.com/F358sWrPUK
— Burnt Texas Toast® (@nailpounder) July 1, 2023
While the immediate response was one of scepticism and satire, it remains to be seen how these new restrictions will impact Twitter’s user base and engagement in the long term.