Following on Twitter, aka X, is how to connect with people and topics on the app. By following people, you’ll be privy to whatever they post. As for topics, you’ll always get the latest updates in your feed. Following is a huge part of the activity on Twitter as it determines what you do. Therefore, it’s important, and so the inability to follow is an alien occurrence. Anyone experiencing this problem will likely wonder, “Why can’t I follow anyone on Twitter?”
Is it because of something you did wrong, or is the social media application experiencing technical issues? A follow restriction is usually a result of your actions. However, there are many possible reasons why you can’t follow anyone on Twitter. But majorly, Twitter takes away users’ ability to follow others to prevent spam activity and promote authenticity. However, there is no cause for alarm as the issue is correctable. So, keep reading to learn more.
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Twitter Limits for Following? Can X Restrict My Account for Following?
You might find Twitter limits annoying because they restrict you from completing the actions you want to take. However, they have their purpose. For example, the tweet character count limit ensures tweets are concise and easy to read. Since X has various restrictions, you may wonder if there’s a Twitter limit for following. The answer is yes. So, if you breach certain rules, Twitter will prevent your account from following others. So, find below the two reasons for the following limitations.
Periodic Following Limits
Indeed, you can freely follow up to 5000 people on Twitter and even more. But this doesn’t mean you can follow a large population at once. Massive following is an indicator of spam activity. So, to reduce the prevalence of spam in the app, Twitter has put periodic following limits in place.
Periodic following limits refer to the number of people you can follow or subscribe to their content per day. Within the day, X, aka Twitter, further breaks down the number of accounts you can follow hourly. Therefore, if your follower count within a day exceeds the stipulated amount, Twitter will restrict your account.
This restriction may come in the form of a suspension. In this instance, your Twitter can’t follow anyone, tweet, or perform basic activities. However, you may still be able to send Direct messages on Twitter. But you can only receive a Twitter suspension after violating the rules numerous times.
Speaking of rules, you may wonder what the daily follower limit is. Well, on Twitter, you can only follow 400 accounts per day. That’s a fair figure because it’s difficult to hit. This wide following range makes the limit almost hard to break. The daily follow limit is important because it prevents aggressive following behavior. It’s also a means of combating automation since fake Twitter accounts are mostly guilty of over-following.
But although Twitter limits the pace you follow to prevent spam, there is no total limit to your following capacity. So, while you have the laxity to follow as many people as you wish, remember to do so cautiously. That way, you won’t break the rules and incur a limitation for your profile.
X Follow Ratio Limits
Technical limits are important as they reduce the workload of the algorithm, thus preventing frequent error messages and site downtime. But although they enhance the platform’s reliability, they can be annoying. Normally, account limitations resulting from following don’t last too long, but it’s best to avoid them.
Twitter can limit or restrict you from following others if your following ratio is low. The following ratio describes the rate at which you follow people, and they follow you as well. For things to go smoothly, the ratio must be equal.
You’ll get a restriction if you follow thousands of Twitter users and the number of people following you is sparse. Therefore, you won’t be able to follow more people until the evens out. Luckily, you can fast-track this process by asking your audience on other social media platforms to follow your Twitter account.
You can also boost a popular tweet. This act can help you attract followers, thus stabilizing your ratio of followers. Alternatively, you can unfollow Twitter profiles that don’t engage with your content to reduce your part of the ratio. Another solution is to create a Twitter list for additional users whose content you want to access. You won’t have to follow them, so this solution helps you boycott the procedures without breaking any rules.
So, if you don’t want Twitter to restrict your account, constantly monitor your follower count. Then, try not to hit the follower ratio limit. If you do this, you won’t fall into a situation where you can’t follow anyone on Twitter. So, play by the ratio.
Why Can’t I Follow Anyone on Twitter? More Reasons for the Following Error
Imagine scrolling through your For you feed on X and then seeing an interesting account. Upon seeing a tweet from the account, you try to follow the person unsuccessfully. Then, an error message appears saying, “You are unable to follow more people at this time.” You’ll wonder why. The previous section states two causes of this issue; however, there are more. So here are three more reasons why you can’t follow anyone on Twitter.
Follow Churn
If your Twitter can’t follow anyone, check if you’ve hit the daily following limit. If you’re nowhere near this limit, then check your follower ratio. If the difference between your followings and followers reaches thousands, then you have a ratio problem. However, if none of these seems like the problem, don’t give in to frustration. There are still other factors to consider and curative measures to apply.
But first, let’s decipher the source of the problem. Another possible issue responsible for the inability to follow tweeps is the follow churn. You may wonder what this means. The follow churn is a display of aggressive following traits. If you haven’t heard about this, you may have heard of the follow-for-follow Twitter strategy. Well, they’re the same thing.
This strategy involves massively following numerous Twitter accounts in hopes that they return the favor. Then, when these profiles reciprocate, the instigator unfollows them all. This act can increase your Twitter follower count without leading to an uneven follower ratio. However, it is risky because Twitter considers mass following a spam or bot activity.
Therefore, practicing the follow-for-follow strategy or follower churn can result in your inability to follow Twitter users. Sadly, if you encounter this challenge, you’ll have to wait until Twitter clears the error before following anyone. But when Twitter lifts this limitation, remember not to commit the same offense again.
Indiscriminate Following
Indiscriminate following is similar to follower churn, but the offenses aren’t the same. Twitter describes indiscriminate following as following or unfollowing numerous accounts via automation within a short period. One thing that stands out in this act is that the accounts you follow or follow are randomly selected.
Therefore, this random selection implies a lack of target audience, which is a giveaway for fake Twitter accounts. Every Twitter user has a content niche that defines the criteria of the people they target. As such, content creators on Twitter seek to build a community of followers from a specific culture.
Doing otherwise is a red flag, which indicates Twitter bot activity. So, to clear off bots and reduce automation, Twitter will restrict your following ability and may even suspend your account. If you can’t follow anyone on X due to indiscriminate following, you must wait till the platform reinstates the function. But if you get a suspension, you’ll have to follow a rigorous process to regain your account.
Account Privacy and Tweet Protection
Sometimes, you may not be guilty of the above offenses, but you still can’t follow people. In this case, this limitation may not be your fault. Rather, the occurrence is from the end of the person you wish to follow.
Normally, the set standard for Twitter accounts is the public mode in which anyone can follow and view tweets. However, some users aren’t comfortable with this level of openness and accessibility. Therefore, they protect their accounts and tweets by switching from public to private profiles.
The enactment of account privacy on Twitter has several effects. However, the notable one in this context is the following limitation. You can’t just follow anyone who has activated tweet and account protection. You’ll have to send a request that the user behind the Twitter handle can accept or decline.
So if they don’t accept your request, there’s no means for you to follow them. However, if the activation of X account privacy is the reason for your follower limitation, you can follow some accounts. Particularly those that are still in the standard public mode.
Therefore, don’t be in a hurry to conclude that you’ve violated some rules. First, check if you can still follow some accounts. Don’t worry if you can; you haven’t breached any rules. So, send a follower request and move on to other activities on your profile.
Why Can’t I Follow Anyone on Twitter Suspension?
If you’ve ever got a Twitter suspension, you would’ve noticed the inability to follow those you want to connect with. This situation is frustrating as it keeps you from getting updates and seeing the latest tweets of those you like. Hence, you may ask in distress, “Why can’t I follow anyone on Twitter suspension?” Well, your curiosity is natural.
Understanding Twitter’s Following Suspension
Twitter’s following restriction may be a result of an account suspension. When you receive a suspension, Twitter withholds your ability to perform certain actions for a while. If Twitter suspends your account, your actions have violated their policies.
You must have broken some rules. Twitter has certain policies that govern user interaction on the platform, and you must abide by them. So, if you violate these, Twitter reprimands you with a suspension.
You may wonder about the kind of rules that are punishable by suspension. Using a third-party tool that defies Twitter’s automation policies may lead to a suspension. You may be unaware of this violation, but you’ll suffer for it. So when using third-party agents to follow, unfollow, or clear tweets, ensure you use a reliable one.
To be safe, checking the third-party tool’s automation policies and confirming if they defy Twitter’s regulations is advisable. If you don’t understand the policies, withhold granting access to your account. The same thing applies if you find them guilty of automation. But you can boycott the entire research process using a tool with nice recommendations and good reviews.
If you implement these measures, you’ll hardly receive any suspension limiting you from growing your Twitter followers. But if you do, you may have broken other follower behavior rules, such as purchasing Twitter followers. It’s also possible that you’ve duplicated another user’s followers, which is an offensive act.
But if you didn’t violate any rules but face suspension, you can contact Twitter and send an appeal. Your appeal might make them reconsider their decision and lift the suspension off your account.
How To Handle Account Suspension and Restriction on X
If Twitter suspends or limits your account, you can wait till the period elapses before regaining control of your account. But doing this puts your growth at stake. Also, it isn’t healthy for brands and individuals like influencers to be absent for a while.
Luckily, you don’t have to wait it out. You can regain control of your account after a restriction, depending on the reason for your Twitter suspension. Assuming your suspension results from an automation offense, Twitter will require you to solve a captcha puzzle. Doing this proves ownership of your account. It also shows that a human, not a bot, runs the account.
Alternatively, depending on which you link to your account, you’ll have to verify your email or mobile number. The verification process is easy, as there are prompts to follow. Finally, X will send a verification code via email, text, or call. You must enter this code on the app to verify your account and regain control. After completing the authentication process and regaining your account, you can follow users again.
Aside from the above, offensive NSFW tweets with nudity, gore, or violence can lead to an account suspension. So, it’s wise to be mindful of what you tweet. Now you have the answers to the question, “Why can’t I follow anyone on Twitter.”
However, if you’ve published nasty tweets in the past, TweetDelete can help you erase them. This tool loads, imports, and deletes tweets and archives without spreading promotional information on your timeline. TweetDelete is also conscious of Twitter’s regulations, so you can feel free to use our third-party tool. So start filtering and cleaning your Twitter timeline to prevent following restrictions today!
