On Tuesday, Linda Yaccarino, CEO of Twitter, defended the temporary cap on daily tweet views, which was introduced on July 1. The company also reported that advertising levels have remained stable since the controversial decision drew significant criticism from users and marketing experts.
In her tweet, Yaccarino stated “when you have a mission like Twitter — you need to make big moves to keep strengthening the platform.” This marked her first public comment regarding the limitations that were implemented by owner Elon Musk, who explained that the measure aims to deter “extreme levels” of data scraping and manipulation of the system.
Following Musk’s announcement, numerous Twitter users shared screenshots indicating they were unable to view any tweets after reaching the imposed limit. Marketing professionals expressed concerns that this move might hinder Yaccarino’s attempts to enhance advertiser engagement.
Twitter has suggested that only a small fraction of its user base has been impacted by these restrictions.
In a blog post released on Tuesday, the company explained, “To ensure the authenticity of our user base we must take extreme measures to remove spam and bots from our platform.”
The tweet limit was implemented shortly after Twitter began requiring users to log into accounts to view tweets.
Meanwhile, Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, has announced plans to launch a microblogging app called Threads. This new app represents a competitive challenge for Twitter, which has faced extensive criticism since Musk acquired the platform for $44 billion in 2022.
When asked via email why Yaccarino did not address the cap until three days after its announcement, Twitter did not reply directly, instead sending a poop emoji, an established response to media inquiries.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
