KOT consider ‘new Twitter’ Truth Social after tweet caps shock
By Jackson NgariKenyans – especially the infamous Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) – who have expressed frustration with Twitter owner Elon Musk’s new tiered system on tweet caps, introduced on Saturday, 1 July 2023, have been flocking in droves to a radical alternative, Truth Social.
In a shocking move, Elon Musk’s introduction of daily post (read tweets) limits on the platform to combat data scraping and system manipulation caused an exodus of users, along with an influx of complaints.
The restrictions implemented on June 1, 2023, put a cap on the number of tweets that unverified users can view, limiting most of the platform’s 200 million users to a maximum of 1,000 tweets per day.
Soon after the changes were implemented, reports of service issues and difficulties accessing Twitter started to pour in.
Although only a small fraction of Twitter’s over 200 million users were affected, the issue was so widespread that it caused the #TwitterDown alongside #GoodbyeTwitter hashtags to trend in some parts of the world including Kenya.
Although Twitter has reversed its policy, this has not prevented many Kenyans from moving to Truth Social.
Truth Social was founded by former U.S. President Donald Trump after he was permanently suspended from Twitter due to allegations that he had incited the rioters who stormed the U.S Capitol building in January 2021.
Until Twitter announced limits on the number of tweets users can see in a single day, Truth Social didn’t gain much traction among Kenyans.
But after Twitter users started having difficulty logging into the platform due to the restrictions placed on it, Truth Social became renowned.
Truth Social even taunted Twitter, saying, “Reminder: On Truth Social you can read, posts as many truths as you want – all for free.”
The development however, has been greeted by reactions from some Kenyans, who tell their experience on the Truth Social platform.
For instance, one user, Viola Dee, commented, “Truth Social is not much different from Twitter, but it is slower and the audience is different.”
Ultimately, Kenyans must decide whether to remain loyal to Twitter or switch to the alternative offered by Truth Social.
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