South Africans who’ve had it with Elon Musk‘s version of Twitter, which, from Saturday, 1 July 2023, introduced a tiered system on tweet caps, are flocking in droves to a radical alternative, Truth Social.
Elon Musk’s ‘tweet cap’ drives exodus
In a surprising move, Musk introduced new limitations on the platform, causing widespread disruptions and an influx of user complaints.
The restrictions, implemented on Saturday morning, impose caps on the number of tweets unverified users can view, leaving most of the platform’s 200 million users restricted to a daily limit of 600 tweets.
Soon after the changes went into effect, reports of service issues and difficulties accessing Twitter began to flood in.
DownDetector, a website that tracks online service outages, recorded nearly 7 500 individuals experiencing problems with the platform.
Users quickly took to social media, causing hashtags such as #TwitterDown and #RateLimitExceed to trend throughout the day.
Another trending topic was BlueSky, a decentralised social media platform co-founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, which garnered attention amid the Twitter disruptions.
The implementation of these technical limitations follows Musk’s announcement the previous day that individuals would now require a Twitter account to view tweets.
This marked a significant departure from the platform’s previous model, allowing anyone to browse the content, effectively making it the internet’s “water cooler.”
Musk described this measure as a “temporary emergency” response, attributing the need for change to numerous organisations aggressively scraping Twitter data, negatively impacting users’ experience.
In a tweet, Musk expressed frustration over data being excessively harvested, stating,
“We were getting data pillaged so much that it was degrading service for normal users!”
To address this issue, he declared that verified accounts would have their daily view limit temporarily set at 6 000 posts, while unverified accounts would be limited to 600 posts per day.
Additionally, new unverified accounts faced an even lower cap of 300 posts daily.
However, as the day progressed, Musk gradually increased the caps, eventually reaching 10 000, 1 000, and 500 posts respectively, just before 18:00.
The adjustments seemed to be an attempt to mitigate the negative backlash and accommodate user demands.
Furthermore, Twitter has been exploring new avenues to enhance its revenue streams, including the integration of verification checks into its Twitter Blue subscription program.
This move is seen as an effort to boost subscription revenue and provide additional value to users opting for the premium service.
The limitations imposed by Musk on unverified users have undoubtedly caused disruptions and sparked debate among Twitter’s vast user base.
What is Truth Social? – Here’s everything you must know
In South Africa, some users looked to former US president Donald Trump‘s Truth Social as a fitting alternative.
Truth Social, an alt-tech social media platform, has emerged as a prominent player in the quest to provide an alternative to established platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
Created by Trump Media & Technology Group, a media and technology company founded in October 2021 by former US president Donald Trump, Truth Social has garnered attention and raised eyebrows since its inception.
Often referred to as a Twitter clone, Truth Social joins the ranks of Parler, Gab, and Mastodon in the pursuit of offering a distinct social media experience.
The platform officially launched on 21 February 2022, aiming to cater to users seeking a different approach to online interactions and content consumption.
However, since mid-2022, Truth Social has faced a series of financial and regulatory challenges. Initially, the application encountered obstacles in securing a place on Google Play due to violations of policies prohibiting content containing physical threats and incitement to violence.
However, after agreeing to enforce policies against incitement, Truth Social was eventually approved for Google Play in October 2022, signalling a step forward for the platform.
In terms of popularity and user adoption, Truth Social currently holds the 101st position in Apple’s App Store rankings for social media apps, as of 6 March 2023.
Meanwhile, SimilarWeb, a digital market intelligence company, ranked Truth Social’s website at 203 in the “News & Media Publishers” category. While Gab stands at number 154, Truth Social outperforms Parler, which lags behind at number 1,052.
The financial value of Truth Social has been a subject of speculation.
In an April 2023 personal financial disclosure, Donald Trump estimated the platform’s worth to range between $5 million and $25 million, underscoring the potential value that Trump and his media company attribute to the venture.
Check out how some South Africans celebrated their migration to Truth Social on social media:
ββPLEASE NOTE: The third-party content below is shared on our platform for journalistic purposes. Swisher Post, its parent company, partners and affiliates shall not be held liable for any consequence that arises from the journalistic duties performed in sharing this content.