Black columns, frozen lists: the TweetDeck software pays the price for the limit of tweet readings

“They also had TweeDeck..!”. On Twitter since yesterday evening, there have been screenshots of black columns, where the lists of “tweets” classified by theme should nevertheless be displayed. Indeed, this is (or was?) the whole point of the TweetDeck application, launched in 2008 and bought by the social network in 2011, which allows you to consult and manage several Twitter accounts. But since this weekend, the lists of “tweets” created by users of the software no longer update.

What is causing the problem? The main hypothesis remains the limited access to the social network since last Saturday. Indeed, in a simple tweet published on July 1, Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, announced the application of temporary limits on the reading of tweets. “Verified accounts are limited to reading 6000 posts per day, unverified accounts up to 600 and new unverified accounts up to 300,” he detailed in his message. Before finally raising this access to 8000 for verified accounts, 800 for unverified and 400 for new accounts, after the outcry generated by this announcement.

The non-update of the lists generated on TweetDeck could therefore be a collateral effect of this limitation in reading, although no official communication from Twitter has taken place for the moment.

Behind this decision, the billionaire justified himself by his desire to fight against organizations that collect massive amounts of data to develop their artificial intelligence (AI) models. Indeed, to develop a generative model capable of answering questions or interacting in a credible way, these companies must “train” the interface by giving it examples of conversations.

Moreover, Twitter is not alone in facing the consequences of the acceleration of generative AI and the development of services articulated around language models. In mid-June, discussion platform Reddit also raised the fees it charges third-party developers to use data and conversations posted on the social network, triggering a strike by users on the social network.

Some Internet users are already looking for alternatives to counter the effect of these ads. In one weekend, the microblogging social network Mastodon reportedly registered 110,000 new users, its founder Eugen Rochko rejoiced on the platform. "I would prefer that Elon Musk destroy his site during the work week," he even quipped, faced with the sudden influx of new profiles.

A joke that has become recurrent among other Internet users, as Twitter's policy leads to unexpected twists. Indeed, in parallel with this fight displayed against AI, Elon Musk is also seeking to save money on its infrastructure costs, recalls the American media The Verge. For a time, for example, the social network stopped paying for anti-spam and account protection services provided by Google Cloud, until new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino stepped in at the end of June. , to restore relations between the two partners.