Twitter’s most recent guffaws include setting daily rate limits on tweets and forcing users to be logged in if they want to even view tweets at all. But it seems that with the launch of Meta’s supposed Twitter-killer Threads, Twitter is trying to roll back at least one of those changes.
According to TechCrunch, not only are users able to view tweets without an account (or at least being logged into one), tweet preview links are properly unfurling again in other apps like Slack, WhatsApp, and iMessage. According to former Twitter CEO Elon Musk, Twitter enacted these limits to combat “extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation.” He went on to explain that it was a “temporary emergency measure,” due to “getting data pillaged so much that it was degrading service for normal users!”
Though another reason for the enacted policies may have been due to Google limiting Twitter’s access to its cloud hosting services. It had been reported last month by Insider that the social media platform hadn’t been paying its bills.
It was also speculated by web developer and Twitter user Sheldon Chang that the site was essentially DDOSing itself. These attacks occur when someone intentionally overwhelms a site by sending too many requests, keeping normal users from accessing it. According to Chang, the company constantly made data requests despite the site not loading properly, which directly resulted from the login requirement.
Threads might be the golden egg
Meanwhile, we have the imminent launch of the Instagram app Threads on July 6, 2023, which is described by Meta as “a stand-alone decentralized social network for sharing text updates.” The tech giant believes that “there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests.”
It has all the basic hallmarks of Twitter — like, comment, repost, and share buttons at the bottom of each post — and lets you avoid immediate news feed clutter by letting you transfer your current Instagram follower list. It also lets you reserve your Instagram username if you already have an account. Judging from the recently leaked images, it’s made to resemble Twitter as much as possible.
It seems that Meta is gearing towards competing with Twitter while capturing the growing number of disgruntled users, thanks to Elon Musk’s constant policy changes and questionable decisions. We’ll see soon if Meta is capable of what other Twitter lookalikes haven’t been able to accomplish yet — actually replacing Twitter as a preferred social media platform.