- X (Twitter) allegedly increased page load times for certain websites, including platforms that Elon Musk has been critical of.
- The throttling primarily involved t.co links increasing load times by up to 5 seconds. The problem was reportedly fixed as of August 15.
Twitter, now X, reportedly throttled traffic to certain websites, including competitors to X and a few other platforms that Elon Musk has been critical of in the past. Some of the more prominent victims included Bluesky, Times, Facebook, Threads, and Substack, with some seeing a delay of up to 5 seconds.
The issue started on August 4 and lasted until the 15th. The specific websites that were affected suggested a purposeful implementation. The allegations do not seem farfetched, considering similar moves in recent times.
For instance, Twitter/X disabled features such as replies, likes, and retweets for posts containing Substack links. This was done after Substack released a feature similar to Twitter Notes.
This is just the latest in a series of potential missteps by X. The company also stopped the promotion of advertiser accounts, which accounts for $100 million of revenue annually. This seems counterproductive, as X is yet to become profitable.
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X Puts Tweetdeck Behind Paywall
On the other hand, X has officially put the Tweetdeck feature behind a paywall. The feature, now known as X Pro, will require a Blue subscription to be accessed. Essentially, the feature allowed users to access multiple accounts and feeds and was highly popular after Twitter added it in 2011.
The move comes as an effort to make premium subscriptions more attractive to users. Blue subscriptions also give options such as higher ranks in conversations, formatting customizations, and potential for revenue sharing. The impact of these changes to the X platform remains to be seen.
What do you think will come next from Musk and X? Let us know your thoughts on LinkedInOpens a new window , X (Twitter)Opens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you!
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