Mastodon, a competing social network business, reported a large boost in traffic a day after Twitter implemented new limits on the number of posts users might see depending on their verification status. Mastodon creator and CEO Eugen Rochko announced on July 2 that the platform’s active user base had increased by at least 110,000 people.
Elon Musk shakes up Twitter
Elon Musk has temporarily restricted the number of messages that can be viewed. Musk, Twitter’s CTO and proprietor, stated on Saturday that the move was made to combat “extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation.”
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX tweeted that verified accounts would be able to read 10,000 tweets per day, while unverified accounts could read 1,000 tweets per day. Unverified accounts that are newly created will be limited to 500 tweets per day. Musk initially announced more stringent restrictions but altered his mind within hours.
He did not say when the restriction would be removed. The update comes after users reported receiving “Cannot retrieve tweets” error messages. According to the website Downdetector, which analyses internet outages, thousands of people were unable to access the social media site.
Twitter began blocking content to users who do not have an account on Friday, with Musk stating that “dramatic and immediate action was required due to EXTREME levels of data scraping.”
Data scraping is a process in which data or material is taken from one site and presented on another, frequently without permission. People could previously access information on Twitter without having to sign in. However, in recent months, the site has had technical challenges.
Musk purchased Twitter last October for $44 billion (€40.4 billion) after months of legal struggle. However, in the months following the takeover, Musk, as CEO of the company, received criticism over site management as offensive material began to appear far more frequently on the site, and advertising revenue decreased.
He then developed Twitter Blue, a premium subscription service that displays a blue checkmark to verify persons. The blue tick was originally used to authenticate influential people. However, the symbol’s status has deteriorated since it became paid.
Mastodon sees exponential growth with 100k+ new active users
Mastodon is a German competitor to Twitter that has a similar tweet-like structure, but it emphasizes that it is user-driven and decentralized. While Twitter is administered by a single company, Mastodon is run by a network of thousands of scattered computer servers and is mostly run by volunteers.
At the time of writing, Mastodon reported 324,000 active users.
Rochko also complimented the Mastodon team for “coming to help with the infrastructure despite it being Sunday” and reposted a number of comments from long-time users and Mastodon engineers, including one post with advice for new users:
If there was one piece of advice I could give to new Mastodon users who are finding their feeds quiet or boring, it is to follow as many people and hashtags as you can. This is not Twitter; there is no algorithm, it is not going to fill your feed with stuff it thinks you like. You have to curate it yourself. Once you do, though, it’s so much more vibrant and rewarding than Twitter has been for a year.
Courtney Heard
Mastodon has seen an increase in activity since Elon Musk, the owner and former CEO of Twitter, stated that the network would place new limits on the number of posts users can read in a day. Recent data has also revealed an alarming number of fake Twitter accounts in several communities.
