Oct 17, 2023 17:00:00

X (formerly Twitter) delays access to Patreon, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc. by an average of 2.5 seconds, negatively impacting users.

It has been pointed out that X (formerly Twitter) intentionally slows down access to competing services such as Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky from links included in posts in order to attract users to its own platform. Tech news site

The Markup recently reported that X is delaying access to creator support platform Patreon , messaging app WhatsApp , Meta's Messenger , etc. by an average of 2.5 seconds.

Twitter Is Throttling Patreon Links, Creators Say It Undermines Their Livelihood – The Markup
https://themarkup.org/news/2023/10/16/twitter-is-throttling-patreon-links-creators-say-it-undermines-their-livelihood

The Markup reported in September 2023 that X intentionally slows down access to some external services such as Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and Substack from links included in posts. Research conducted by Google in the past has shown that 53% of users will give up on viewing a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to display, and throttling , which intentionally slows down access, is common among competing services and It appears to be functioning as a way to harass users.

A test has appeared that confirms that X (Twitter) is still intentionally slowing down access to Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and Substack - GIGAZINE

At the same time as this report, The Markup also released a tool that measures access times to websites from links posted on X. It was designed to check whether access to the website the user was interested in was intentionally delayed, and if it was confirmed that it was delayed, The Markup was also notified.

When users started using the tool, The Markup received an alert that access to Patreon, WhatsApp, and Messenger was being intentionally slowed down. Therefore, The Markup conducted an experiment to generate 25 new links to Patreon, WhatsApp, and Messenger and measure the access time from X.

As a result of the experiment, we found that most links had an average access delay of 2.5 seconds, except for 6 Messenger links that appeared not to be throttled. It's unclear why some Messenger links aren't being throttled, but it's clear that X is slowing down access to these services.

The Markup says, 'Platforms that find X throttling are at least partially in conflict with the list of features added to X. Elon Musk calls X an 'everything app.' 'We plan to evolve it so that it can be used not only for sharing posts, but also for sending money, live streaming, paying creators, etc.' X is delaying access to potential competitors. I pointed out.

The throttling by X that was discovered this time is particularly damaging to users who use the creator support platform Patreon. This is because creators who monetize using Patreon often build a system in which they first attract attention with X, which has a large number of users, and then direct people to their own Patreon page from there.

Max Collins , the vocalist of the rock band Eve 6, uses Patreon, but as of July 2023, ``Reactions to Patreon links posted on Twitter (currently X), which should have a large number of followers.'' He said that he was aware that this was his fault. Collins explained to The Markup that Patreon is important to the band's plans to create new music for their loyal fans.

In addition, Peter Shamshiri, who runs the legal podcast 5-4 , pointed out that X's throttling of links to Patreon will make it difficult for creators to use X as an advertising platform. Mr. Shamshiri says that Twitter has been essential for the growth of the podcast, but at the time of writing the article, he is focusing on promotional activities on the alternative SNS Bluesky.