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As of this morning, it appears Musk has implemented a hard sign-in wall on Twitter. This is substantially more extreme even than Facebook and Instagram’s sign-in walls, given both of those still allow users to view profiles and some posts before being forced to sign in (though they restrict scrolling). I think it might be the most stringent sign-in wall of any social media platform (even Pinterest!). (Maybe Discord counts?)
Clicking on any Twitter link now forces me to sign in before seeing any tweet. Nitter still works for now, but I guess we shall see how long that workaround lasts.
Unlike Facebook and Instagram (and more like, I’d guess, Reddit), on Twitter most users don’t engage with content itself (making posts, commenting, liking, messaging), they just consume it, so there’s less incentive to make an account. If this is a gambit rather than a mistake, it seems like a pretty bold attempt by Musk to force lurkers into making accounts (to acquire more user data and perhaps in the hope that once they have an account they’re likelier to engage more with the platform, spend longer on it, consume more ads).
I’m skeptical this is the new CEO because Musk already enhanced the sign-in wall before she took over (forcing it even for simply scrolling down someone’s page) and said in any case he’ll remain in charge of the tech while she focuses on ad sales.
Huge mistake in my opinion. Can't speak for others, but to me, a sign-in wall means I just stop interacting with that content altogether, and if I get linked there by mistake, I'll curse the site under my breath and close the tab. I can forgive Facebook because it's mostly aiming to be a more tight knit community site for local groups/friends/relatives. Instagram, Reddit, and especially Twitter have no excuse. Gut feeling is it's mortgaging the site's future for short term metrics.
He said it's 'temporary' and because of mass scraping of data by 3rd parties.
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