A new leak claims that Twitter’s popular TweetDeck tool will soon be placed behind a Twitter Blue paywall, with access cut off for users who don’t cough up a premium service.
The leak comes from a Twitter user @512×512 (opens in a new tab), a programmer who reverse-engineered Elon Musk’s “Twitter 2.0” mechanics. More specifically, the user was able to locate a line of text in the TweetDeck website code that read “Welcome to TweetDeck, a Twitter Blue feature.”
NOTE: Tweetdeck will soon be exclusive to Twitter Blue. pic.twitter.com/EmIU5kz0lcFebruary 8, 2023
People (including me) are furious about this; TweetDeck is an extremely popular application among many Twitter users, especially those who manage professional or branded accounts. Since being released by a third party in 2008 and purchased by Twitter for $40 million in 2011, it has consistently ranked as one of the most used Twitter clients outside of the main app.
According to @TitterTakeoveraccount where news related to the social media platform is posted, a revamped version of TweetDeck will be available soon, most likely locked behind Twitter Blue’s “ad-free” subscription level.
Elon, why do you have to hurt us like this?
Of course, it’s worth noting that when Tesla boss Elon Musk took over Twitter last year, he fired a ridiculous number of people – including, amusingly, an entire team of software engineers responsible for maintaining and improving TweetDeck. As such, I don’t have much hope that this “new and improved” TweetDeck will actually be that great.
Even if it turns out to be an even better version of a tool I know and love, putting it behind a paywall is just a colossal dick move by Musk’s Twitter and I’m furious about it. TweetDeck is an essential tool for the vast number of people who use Twitter to support their professional endeavors, and blocking it unless we pay for Blue is an extremely frustrating move.
Of course, this is an unconfirmed leak at the moment, so take this with a grain of salt – it’s possible Musk will see a backlash here and back off that decision. This seems even more likely considering how recently he retired charging users for access to the Twitter API.
Unfortunately, this is only the latest in the series Gaffes on Twitter for a South African businessman, a list that seems endless (and next… and next… and next.) Recently, a widespread outage due to “multiple internal and external issues” has left most users unable to tweet or even access Twitter, fueling rumors that the platform may further limit tweets, messages, and followers. It’s safe to say that things haven’t been good since Musk took over the platform.
If Elon goes ahead and puts TweetDeck behind a paywall, I’m sure of it Some users will benefit from a free Blue subscription to maintain access. But for me, Twitter is starting to look like a sinking ship, and this is another leak filling the lower decks with water. Many more users are likely to reject this change on principle, and my prediction is that if that happens, it will take even more people away from Elon’s social media hell.