The internal chaos and dislocations continue on Twitter, reports the Platformer newsletter. Errors like this week's tweet limit can therefore be explained by the erratic waves of layoffs. In addition, there will soon be trouble with the authorities because Twitter can hardly comply with regulatory requirements.
The announced stability problems
According to the report, it is the consequences of Elon Musk's management that users are now feeling more and more. On Wednesday of this week, for example, it was not possible for many to share posts on the platform. Instead, the error message came that the daily limit for sending tweets had been exceeded.
The reason for the glitch: According to Platformer, an employee accidentally deleted data for an internal service that sets daily tweet limits. Originally, therefore, another team worked on this service, but was dismissed in November. So it is an incident consistent with the warnings given during the November mass layoffs. The limits have now been adjusted. This is 2,400 per day for tweets and 500 for direct messages.
Musk's focus on reach
New functions are also causing trouble. One of them is displaying the views of a tweet. This allows you to see directly how many people a tweet has reached. Musk wanted to make it clear what reach can be achieved via Twitter. 90 percent of users would only read, but not write any posts or otherwise interact on the platform. However, he does not seem satisfied with the extent to which individual posts spread.
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Made my account private until tomorrow morning to test whether you see my private tweets more than my public ones
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2023
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In early February, Musk briefly set his account, which has over 100 million followers, to private to see if this mode could increase its reach. This should identify errors in the system. Internally, however, he has been following the topic for a few weeks, according to the platformer report. The reason: his own tweets receive too little attention.
In a meeting, however, an employee explained to him that the algorithm did not disadvantage him. Rather, the more likely reason for the declining reach is that public interest in him is simply not as strong as it was in April 2022. No suitable message for Musk, he is said to have fired the employee in the meeting.
The drama surrounding Musk even distracts from some fundamental problems. In general, the display of views can be harmful for Twitter because declining reach is easy to understand. In addition, the “Like” and “Retweet” buttons are smaller due to the view display, which could explain the falling interaction rate on the platform.
Regulators are at the door
What the Platformer report paints in general is a picture of a harsh working environment and still chaotic circumstances. An overarching strategy is missing, the employees still working at Twitter are mainly busy with filling gaps. The introduction of new functions is often done in a hurry, such as the launch of Twitter Blue, the shutdown of the open Twitter API and now the problems with the reach display.
In addition: Due to the layoffs and personnel changes, it is hardly possible for the developers to comply with the requirements of the American regulatory authority FTC. Due to data protection violations, the company had already imposed a fine of 150 million US dollars in May 2022 – i.e. before Musk's takeover. The authorities are planning an inspection in the first quarter. But the employees doubt whether Twitter's documentation currently meets the requirements. If the company breaks the conditions again, further fines in the millions are threatened.
Regulatory trouble also threatens in the EU. The EU Commission is demanding that Twitter do more to combat disinformation. EU Commissioner Věra Jourová criticizes the transparency report that the company has presented on this subject. This lags behind other platforms such as Meta and Google. In addition, the Digital Service Act (DSA) will come into force later this year, which will come with additional requirements – and sanctions for violations.