OMG! Twitter Places Follower Restrictions!

Posted by Nick O'Neill on August 12th, 2008 8:41 AM

Last night, it was revealed that Twitter was beginning to place restrictions on the number of users one could follow on Twitter. Apparently the limit was set at 2,000. Robert Scoble didn’t appear to have the same problem though and said that the limit may only be for new users. Another theory? Twitter is throttling the rate at which people add new followers.

While it’s cool to watch a continuous stream of tweets from more than 2,000 users, the real question is there is any use to following this many people. Based on what other people I’ve spoken to have said, following any more than 400 or 500 users is absolutely ridiculous because there is no way to track what is going on. Then again, placing restrictions on what users can do due to theoretical limits doesn’t make much sense either.

Who’s to say that there aren’t more than 2,000 people that I’d like to hear what they have to say? Facebook places a limit of 5,000 friends but even Facebook has suggested that this is due to technical limitations. When you develop a platform, the system should work at all sizes. While most people probably shouldn’t be following the 21,000 plus people that Robert Scoble is, it doesn’t mean you should be able to.

Do you think Twitter should be placing follower restrictions? Do you think these restrictions are a unacceptable as Apple’s iPhone application “off switch” which Steve Jobs confirmed yesterday?

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