If you try to access Twitter without logging in to your user account, you may have noticed that you’re unable to see any of the content that was previously available to the wider public. Instead, you’ll be met with a Twitter window that asks you to either sign in or create a new account. This effectively blocks you from viewing tweets, user profiles, and browsing through threads unless you’re a registered user.
This issue has been replicated by several members of The Verge team, and it appears to affect web access on both desktop and mobile devices. Previously, Twitter allowed limited access to the platform without an account. You could view public tweets and user profiles, but couldn’t like or leave comments. After scrolling past a certain number of tweets, a window would appear that prevented you from viewing additional posts until you signed in. While this was restrictive, it still allowed some access to the platform.
However, the current situation is different. Regardless of how you try to access the website, whether it’s the homepage or a direct link to a tweet or profile, you’re immediately met with a sign-in prompt that completely obscures your view. There’s no preview or redirection to the content. You simply can’t see anything.
Twitter has yet to make a public announcement about this change, so it’s unclear if it’s an intentional update or another technical mishap. If Twitter stands by the changes, they both contradict and support other actions taken by owner Elon Musk in the past year. In 2022, Musk hired iPhone hacker George Hotz to fix Twitter’s search feature and remove the login prompt for unregistered users. However, Hotz resigned from his internship with the company, stating that he didn’t think he could make a real impact there. In April of this year, Twitter eliminated the platform’s search feature for unregistered users entirely.
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If this change is intentional, it means that Twitter is pushing visitors harder to become official users and potential Twitter Blue subscribers. While free Twitter account holders can still access publicly posted tweets and other information, many enhanced features, such as editing tweets and user verification, are locked behind a Twitter Blue subscription. The company may also limit access to more of its core features unless users pay for them. This shift towards premium features could be motivated by the need for a cash injection, as Twitter’s US advertising revenue between April and May this year dropped significantly compared to the previous year.
In conclusion, the inability to access Twitter without logging in has become a significant issue for users. It’s unclear if this change is intentional or a technical mishap, but it aligns with Twitter’s recent actions to push users towards becoming official and paying subscribers. The restrictions on non-registered users and the potential monetization of core features indicate a shift in Twitter’s strategy to generate more revenue from its platform.
