Linda Yaccarino, who succeeded Elon Musk as Twitter CEO, has stepped forward to defend the platform’s controversial decision to temporarily limit the number of tweets users can read daily.
Yaccarino took to Twitter and addressed the backlash the platform has received since introducing the temporary cap on the number of tweets users can read daily on Tuesday.
“When you have a mission like Twitter — you need to make big moves to keep strengthening the platform. This work is meaningful and on-going,” she said in the tweet.
Yaccarino also shared a blog post that states that only a small percentage of users had been affected by the limits. The company defended the move as a necessary step to ensure the authenticity of its user base by combating spam and removing bots from the platform.
This was Yaccarino’s first public comment since Musk announced the tweet limits during the weekend as a measure to discourage “extreme levels” of data scraping and system manipulation.
The decision raised concerns among users, who shared screenshots showing their inability to view any tweets, including those from corporate advertisers, once they hit the limit. Marketing professionals feared this could undermine Yaccarino’s efforts to attract advertisers to the platform.
Musk introduced the tweet limits shortly after Twitter started mandating users to log into an account to view tweets. This change, along with the cap, has stirred speculation about Twitter’s motives and long-term strategy.
While Musk has cited concerns related to “data scraping” and “system manipulation” behind these decisions, a former Twitter employee told BBC the moves may be driven by the tech billionaire’s efforts to reduce costs.
Meanwhile, Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), has announced its plans to launch a decentralized social media app called Threads this week.
The timing of this launch has been applauded by netizens and social media commentators alike, considering Twitter is currently facing heavy criticism since Musk acquired it for a staggering $44 billion in October 2022.
