Twitter limits bulk following, reduces number of accounts one can follow to 400 per day

The micro-blogging platform Twitter earlier allowed users to follow up to 1,000 accounts.

By : IANS | Updated at : 09 Apr 2019 12:18 PM (IST)

Twitter limits bulk following, reduces number of accounts one can follow to 400 per day Twitter limits bulk following, reduces number of accounts one can follow to 400 per day

Twitter last year cracked down on "bulk tweeting" that allowed accounts to tweet the same content from multiple accounts. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP)

Twitter policy bars use of the service for spreading spam, which it defines as "bulk or aggressive activity that attempts to manipulate or disrupt Twitter or the experience of users on Twitter to drive traffic or attention to unrelated accounts, products, services, or initiatives."

Factors taken into account by Twitter when determining if accounts are being used for spam is following and or unfollowing large numbers of accounts in short time periods.

San Francisco: In a bid to combat spam on its platform, Twitter has changed its rules to allow users to follow up to 400 accounts a day. The micro-blogging platform earlier allowed users to follow up to 1,000 accounts. "Follow, unfollow, follow, unfollow. Who does that? Spammers. So we're changing the number of accounts you can follow each day from 1,000 to 400. Don't worry, you'll be just fine," the company tweeted late Monday.

Follow, unfollow, follow, unfollow. Who does that? Spammers. So we’re changing the number of accounts you can follow each day from 1,000 to 400. Don’t worry, you’ll be just fine.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) April 8, 2019

Twitter last year cracked down on "bulk tweeting" that allowed accounts to tweet the same content from multiple accounts. "As a part of our commitment to building a healthy service, we remain focused on stopping spam and abuse on Twitter," a spokesperson for Twitter told Engadget. Last November, Twitter said it was giving users more freedom to report fake, suspicious accounts to intensify crackdown on online spamming activities. You can now specify what type of spam you are seeing when you report, including fake accounts. Twitter allows users to flag tweets as originating from a fake account or a bot which are impersonating as something or someone else, and mark them as "fake". The company purged about 70 million accounts last year for conducting spamming or malicious behaviour.

Published at : 09 Apr 2019 12:18 PM (IST)

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