Twitter users are searching how to delete the app after a drastic change to the social media app sparked anger among many. According to data, 'delete Twitter' searches skyrocketed up to 983 per cent in the UK after users were hit with the new change over the weekend.
It comes as the social network has now put a limit on the number of tweets users can read. According to comparison service CasinoAlpha, the change also prompted a 2,806 per cent rise in searches for 'how to delete Twitter account'.
The company began limiting the number of tweets on Friday, June 30, swiftly prompting backlash and confusion among users about whether the app was down. 'Is Twitter down' also saw a massive 4,173 per cent rise.
Twitter CEO, Elon Musk said in a post on Saturday (July 1), that verified accounts were now limited to viewing 6,000 posts per day, with a limit of just 600 for unverified accounts and 300 for new unverified accounts. Musk explains this was done to combat "data scraping and system manipulation".
But this change has triggered mass backlash and confusion from affected users. Alongside a screenshot of Twitter's 'rate limit exceeded, please wait then try again' message, user Angelgojoo tweeted: "Good morning. istg I will delete twitter and never come back."
In response to Elon Musk's post, Rueityputh declared: "Time to delete twitter." XxdepressedxX also fumed: "I might delete twitter because of this." Inyahcloset added: "I'm debating if I should delete twitter or not."
Jmo_ttv taged: "Thank you Elon for my 25 mins of Twitter time to delete this f****** app." Stevepaul59 wrote: "Thanks Elon! Your exercise wasn’t necessarily the final straw, but it was a good day to plan for a future without twitter. Will be much easier to delete the app when you reach your next level of humanity. There will be no 'try again'."
Tudor Turiceanu, CEO of CasinoAlpha, commented on the findings. He said: "Limiting the number of tweets that users can view is a major change to Twitter. It appears that these restrictions have not been properly communicated to users, as there has been a sharp rise in searches querying if the website is down.
"This appears to be the latest move to attract users to its paid subscription platform, with Twitter blue users able to read ten times the tweets of a free account holder. However, some users have been turned off, as these findings show a huge rise in Twitter users looking to delete their accounts."
