Twitter is no longer the same social media network after Elon Musk bought the platform for $44 billion. The micro-blogging website, which now goes by X, underwent a significant transformation. The changes introduced by the new ownership introduced several errors and bugs on the platform. Due to the numerous outages whenever X releases new features, people often ask — Is Twitter broken?
On the one hand, the social media network is accessible and functional, as it continues to provide regular updates. However, if you’re unaware of what’s going on X, it can feel like the platform no longer works. This article is for anyone out of the loop about Twitter. It covers all the changes introduced by the new leadership and its impact on the social media platform.
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Did the Introduction of Twitter Reading Limits Finally Break the Platform?
On July 1, 2023, thousands of users on X reported they could not use the platform. People were unable to publish posts, reply to tweets, check their timelines, or view bookmarks during this time of day. DownDetector, a website that informs people about the status of various websites, also received several reports about this issue. There were no updates from X until Elon Musk provided insight into why people faced this issue. He informed everyone about Twitter reading limits, which the platform introduced recently.
These restrictions targeted system manipulation and data scraping, two major problems X was trying to resolve. According to Elon Musk, artificial intelligence (AI) companies were scraping data from the platform. In order to meet the sudden demand from these organizations, X brought additional servers online.
They introduced rate limits to prevent these workloads from stressing the platform’s servers. These measures aimed to control how long people can use the social media network. Initially, the restrictions were as follows:
- 300 posts per day for new users who didn’t verify their accounts.
- 600 posts per day for regular but non-verified users.
- 6000 posts per day for users with verification.
Fortunately, the platform changed the limits to:
- New users who don’t verify their profiles can view up to 500 posts daily.
- Regular users who use X without verification won’t see more than 1000 posts every day.
- Anyone who verifies their account can go through 10,000 posts daily.
You may have hit the rate limit if you run into this error after spending several hours on X. In this situation, you’ll have to wait until the day ends. Alternatively, you can become an X Premium subscriber (if you haven’t already) to increase the rate limit substantially.
Why Are Third-Party Apps for Twitter Not Working?
It was quite common for people to use third-party apps to access Twitter. Why? These applications offered more features than the platform’s official app. Also, they removed ads from your feed, ensuring you only see posts from other users. However, this changed forever after the platform increased its application protocol interface (API) pricing in March 2023:
- Free – Publish up to 1,500 posts every month without attracting any fees.
- Basic – A single user can use the third-party service to post up to 3,000 tweets for $100 a month.
- Enterprise – Removes all the limits, but the monthly plan starts at $42,500.
Later, the platform introduced a new tier, i.e., Pro, for $5,000 a month.
The social media network gave developers 30 days before deprecating the older API tiers. As a result of this move, Twitter not working became synonymous with people using these third-party applications.
The sudden hike in API pricing made the new subscription tiers unaffordable for most developers. They had two solutions – accept the price increase but pass on the cost to their customers or stop development.
Most third-party apps no longer work as it became costly to use X’s API. For example, under the Basic plan, the maximum cap for everyone using a specific third-party service was 50,000 posts. According to Pew Research, most users post only twice every month. Using this as the baseline means the third-party service can support up to 25,000 users. However, if creators also use this app, it will bring down the number of posts people can publish. The only option is to upgrade to Pro, which is 50 times the Basic plan’s monthly fees.
If you use any third-party application for X, the only option is to shift to the platform’s official app.
Elon Musk Twitter: 4 Updates That Broke Several Features and Functions
Elon Musk’s Twitter continued to roll out several updates as part of the new ownership’s commitment to improve the platform. However, some of the changes broke several features and functions. As a result of these updates, it was common to see these broken Twitter user reports. Below is a list of four changes that caused issues for people on the platform.
1. Removal of Twitter Circles
The social media platform introduced Twitter Circles as a way to control who can see some of your posts. You can add up to 150 users, making it easier to express yourself to people you know and trust.
Although it was quite popular on the platform, things changed after the takeover. X’s new leadership decided to go in a different direction with this feature. In September 2023, the platform’s support account published a post informing people about their plans to deactivate Twitter Circles.
There were signs the platform wanted to remove this feature. In April 2023, there were multiple user reports about a Twitter Circles bug. Instead of making your posts visible to certain users, they became accessible to anyone who follows you.
However, the platform fixed this issue quickly.
If you use this feature regularly, you should know it no longer works. The only way to limit who can see what you tweet is to make your profile private.
On October 31, 2023, they deprecated Twitter Circles.
2. Replacing Home and Latest Timelines With for You and Following Feeds
For the longest time, Twitter provided users with two feeds on their homepage. One was the Home timeline, which shows you the top posts on the platform. The social media network learns about your preferences and displays content that matches your interests.
Before this change, the platform showed posts in reverse chronological order, i.e., the newest tweets first. However, this changed after integrating its recommendation system into the user’s timeline.
Switching to the Latest timeline was the only way to get the original feedback.
After the takeover, there was a significant change in these timelines. For starters, the leadership changed the Home feed to For You. This new timeline uses the platform’s algorithm to recommend tweets users may like. You’ll see content from people you follow and other users who aren’t part of this network.
Also, the platform started showing what is popular and relevant.
Similarly, the Following timeline replaced the Latest feed. In the new timeline, you’ll only see posts from people you follow on X. Also, the platform arranges the tweets in reverse chronological order.
Returning to X after a long time can feel like Twitter broke due to the missing timelines.
Fortunately, you can still get a similar experience with the new feeds. Also, the platform now remembers your timeline preference.
3. TweetDeck Is No Longer Accessible
TweetDeck was popular among power Twitter users because of its features. People loved the ability to see various timelines, advanced search, tweet composer, and add multiple customized columns.
However, this wasn’t an official service, as it started as a third-party app. This changed in 2011 after the social media network acquired the application.
After Elon Musk became the new owner, there was another update for TweetDeck. First, the platform made several changes to the iconic power tool.
The social media network made the new version available to everyone for only 30 days. After this period, users had to subscribe to X Premium or X Premium+ to get this exclusive dashboard.
Although the platform did allow people to migrate their old data to the new dashboard, it wasn’t popular among users. It is common for users to look for TweetDeck alternatives.
As part of the platform’s rebrand from Twitter to X, there was also a change in TweetDeck’s name. Right now, the new version of this tool goes by X Pro.
4. An X Account Is Mandatory To View What’s Happening on X
You didn’t need a profile on X to see all the conversations on the social media platform. It was also possible to use the search feature to find specific tweets and accounts. Also, you can see what’s trending on X, as the Explore page was available to everyone.
However, this is no longer the case due to significant changes on the platform. As part of the company’s efforts to combat data scrapers, it became mandatory to have an X account.
But, this didn’t last long as the platform made a small change to this requirement. Now, you can view specific tweets without an account, with the following limitations:
- You can’t see who engaged with the post. However, it shows engagement metrics, like the number of likes, reposts, quotes, and bookmarks.
- The replies to the post are no longer visible.
- If you’re viewing a thread, you can only see the first post.
- Only a handful of posts are visible on the profile page.
- The platform may ask you to create an account to view certain profiles.
- You can only see what’s in the Post tab on the profile page. You need an account to view the other tabs, like Replies, Media, and Likes.
- The platform’s search feature is no longer available to non-account holders.
Is Twitter Stock Broken? Why Is It Delisted on Every Stock Exchange?
In November 2013, Twitter went public, enabling people to invest in the social media platform. On the first day in the stock market, you could purchase a share for $26.00. By the end of the trading hours, its value was $44.90. As a result, the company’s valuation rose to $31 billion. The social media network’s ticker symbol was TWTR in the stock market.
However, you can no longer buy Twitter stocks after the acquisition, as Elon Musk made the company private. Also, X Corp. is the parent company of the social media platform.
What about people who purchased stocks on Twitter before the acquisition? Well, these investors received $54.20 per share, as per the price paid by Elon Musk during the takeover.
Is Twitter Broken: Stop X From Limiting or Suspending Accounts With TweetDelete
Hopefully, you now have clarity on the query — is Twitter broken? Did you know X can stop working temporarily or permanently if your posts break the platform’s rules? Fortunately, this is easily preventable with TweetDelete. The auto-delete feature allows you to target specific phrases and remove any tweet that contains these terms.
There’s also the bulk-delete feature to remove multiple posts from your profile. This is handy if there are older tweets that may affect your credibility. Also, you can delete posts you liked to maintain your online reputation. Sign up for TweetDelete today to ensure your account is free from rule-breaking and controversial posts!
