Twitter TweetDeck to be available only to paid, verified users

Access to Twitter’s own TweetDeck client will be limited to paid subscribers from August, cutting off free users from the advanced alternative to the company’s main consumer app.

Twitter announced the change alongside news that an updated version of TweetDeck. (REUTERS)

Access to Twitter's own TweetDeck client will be limited to paid subscribers from August, cutting off free users from the advanced alternative to the company's main consumer app.

Twitter announced the change alongside news that an updated version of TweetDeck would begin rolling out to users with new features, as the Elon Musk-owned business continues to try and convert users to its $8-a-month Twitter Blue service.

Several features have been placed behind a paywall in recent months, most notably Twitter's iconic blue verified checkmarks, as Musk and new Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino attempt to offset a drop-off in ad revenue.

The turmoil since Musk's takeover also created an opportunity for rivals to capture disgruntled users, with Meta Platforms Inc. set to launch a competing product as soon as this week.

Twitter Limits Number of Tweets Users Can See Each Day

Twitter is imposing a temporary cap on the number of tweets that accounts can see each day, a move that sparked backlash from some users.

Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that unverified users will be able to view as many as 600 posts daily while Twitter Blue subscribers can see 6,000 posts “to address extreme levels of data scraping” and “system manipulation.” He later added the limits will be increased to 800 and 8,000 respectively, without specifying how long the limits will last.

About five hours later, Musk revised the limits again, increasing the number to 1,000 for unverified accounts and 10,000 for verified users.

Users started reporting issues accessing the social media site earlier Saturday, after they received notifications that they had exceeded their “rate limit.” The number of reports peaked at nearly 7,000 at around 11:30 a.m. in New York before declining, according to Downdetector. Following Musk's announcement on the limits, the site's trending topics was dominated by complaints, with users posting about “#TwitterDown” and “RIP Twitter.”

The move follows other restrictions put in place earlier this week, when Twitter stopped users without accounts from viewing tweets and profiles. The procedure, which Musk said was temporary, was enacted to prevent people from scraping the site for data.

Musk has made a series of changes to Twitter since buying the company and stepping in as CEO in 2022, perhaps most notably through the introduction of premium accounts that charge users $8 per month, called Twitter Blue, and the ability for users to create subscriber-only content.