Money grab or spam fighting? Twitter to limit Direct Messages of unverified accounts
Twitter users who don't pay the social media service $8 per month will soon have the ability to direct message other Twitter users restricted. The announcement comes from the official Twitter Support account on Twitter.
There, Twitter published on July 21, 2023 the following message: "We'll soon be implementing some changes in our effort to reduce spam in Direct Messages. Unverified accounts will have daily limits on the number of DMs they can send".
The announcement ended with a link to Twitter's subscription page to increase the daily limit again.
The company did not provide specifics on the new limit. It did not reveal when the change takes effect and there is no information currently on the limits. How many direct messages are non-paying Twitter users allowed to send before the limit kicks in?
Another aspect that has not been explained yet is whether the limits apply to all direct messages or just to direct messages between users who do not follow each other. It looks as if Twitter won't make a distinction between these two cases and some critics may see this as confirmation that the site's main intent is to increase subscriber counts by reducing the functionality for non-paying members of the site.
Twitter subscribers have a number of advantages already over non-paying members. They may post tweets, replies and quotes with up to 25,000 characters, have their posts prioritized for extra visibility, may use bold and italic in texts, see less advertisement and may also edit tweets among other benefits. Soon, they may also hide the Twitter Blue icon.
The official Twitter Blue sign-up page does not list the restriction of Direct Messages yet.
Twitter owner Elon Musk revealed recently that the site's advertising dropped by about 50% and that the site has not reached a positive cash flow yet. The upcoming direct messaging limits may reduce spam on the site, but they may also increase revenue. All of this depends on the daily limits: if set low, it will certainly irritate Twitter users who encounter the limits. Some may subscriber to Twitter Blue to increase their limits, others may reduce their activity on the site instead as a consequence of the latest restrictive move aimed at non-paying site members.
Twitter implemented direct messaging restrictions already on the site recently. These have reduced direct message spam by 70% for users who were switched or switched to the new option to only allow messages by verified Twitter users and contacts.
Elon Musk claims that it has set DM transmission limits to reduce DM spam,
but the truth is that “spam is the same regardless of whether it is an authenticated account.”
In short,
Elon Musk just want to enhance the selfish ‘echo chamber’ and ‘filter bubble’ effects.
It’s a “stupid quibble” that even a child can understand.
Let’s move the goalposts again. Expect more confusion in the not too distant future.
Really a “Derangement Syndrome” i agree : https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-twitter-bird-logo-change-x-meta-threads-rcna95774
More now than ever, Twitter is useless. There are no longer any active users among the 10 or so I follow. I left there this month.
What on Earth are you talking about?
Provide evidence for your claim or be quiet.
Give a 5 y old an expensive toy not meant for childs, and it will destroy it.
Can’t stand people with Elon Derangement Syndrome. Such a weird bunch of people.
Can’t stand people with Elon Worship Syndrome. Such a weird bunch of people.
See how easy that is.
Fred, buddy, if you’re trying to act all snarky, then at least have some logic. At not point ever did I comment anything remotely similar to praising or worshiping Elon. But that’s the nature with you weirdos, you only see things in absolutes.
I’d love to see your Mastodon feed. Probably full of Elon and Trump hating posts.
an organization i work with is pulling the plug on twitter. or should i say, parler 2.0?
Agreed, their zealous almost cult like dedication to defending this man against legitimate criticism is weird.
>Twitter implemented direct messaging restrictions already on the site recently. These have reduced direct message spam by 70% for users who were switched or switched to the new option to only allow messages by verified Twitter users and contacts.
You say it as if it were an absolute truth or something verified by an independent source, you should clarify that this figure (70%) was provided by Twitter itself and has not been verified by any independent source. Nowadays you have to take with a grain of salt everything that the official Twitter accounts (which are obviously controlled by that narcissistic clown called Elmo) say.
Twitter … or too many are still riding a dead horse.