The unexpected placement of limits on how many tweets a Twitter user can read in a day caught many off guard last week, including D.C.-area public agencies that rely on the social media site to communicate with those they serve.
Twitter owner Elon Musk has limited the number of tweets that users can view each day in an attempt to “prevent unauthorized scraping of potentially valuable data from the social media platform,” The Associated Press reported.
“I was thrown for a little bit of a loop,” said Pete Piringer, chief spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.
He said part of his job is catching up on — and in some cases, retweeting — information from other agencies on the county, state and local level. So, Piringer was shocked when he received the notification of “rate limit exceeded,” while monitoring his feed.
Piringer wasn’t the only spokesperson in the D.C. area who was surprised by this move from the social media giant.
“We’re not going to deny that is concerning,” said Marcel Bassett, the public information officer for the Alexandria Police Department.
The cap on number of tweets that can be read are 1,000 for free users, and 10,000 for paid accounts.
The concern for organizations serving the public is not just their ability to view tweets, but also the fact that those they are trying to reach with important information are not seeing the content.
“It could be a disadvantage if I were to get locked down in the middle of a storm or middle of a crisis,” Piringer said.
While Twitter has been a “valuable tool for emergency services,” Piringer said it isn’t the only service Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service uses to connect with residents and the media, adding it should not be the sole way to reach people.
“I think it should give us all pause to consider … other platforms and … social media in general should not be the only mechanism that we use to communicate,” Piringer said.
Bassett said the situation does not leave the department operating in “panic mode;” however, because they also disseminate information on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and the county-operated eNews.
Both spokesmen agreed that Twitter should consider a limit exception for certain accounts, such as those operated by first responders.
“It’s a simple fix, probably, for a platform like Twitter to give priority,” Piringer said.
Bassett said the decision affects all public safety, citing the wildfires out West, during which first responders are relying on Twitter as a main mode of communication.
WTOP emailed Twitter for comment and was responded to with the poop emoji.
The scat image is Twitter’s automatic response to emails from the press.
press@twitter.com now auto responds with 💩
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2023
Metro, which posts frequent updates for riders, said it has experienced intermittent issues posting tweets on the transit agency’s various accounts.
In an email, Metro spokesman Ian Jannetta said the agency’s website is the main way riders keep track of trains and buses and monitor service updates. However, there is also a MetroAlerts, which riders can sign up for.
“We continue to monitor the changes at Twitter as more becomes known about recent changes,” Jannetta wrote.
In an email, Lt. James Curry, with the Fairfax County police, said the department has a variety of resources at its disposal to engage with the community, which includes social media platforms and the county’s Fairfax Alerts.
“We’re going to continue to utilize Twitter and these additional platforms at this time,” Curry wrote.
Most agencies appear to be in a “wait and see” mode with Twitter, although Piringer admits that for now, he isn’t as “proactive” as he usually is when it comes to monitoring and retweeting other tweets.
“I have to say I’ve slowed down my tweets a little bit,” Piringer said.
