Twitter brutally imposes its new paid version of TweetDeck

Twitter has just driven a new nail into the coffin of Twitter as it has operated for years. The decried “new” version of TweetDeck has just been imposed on everyone, and it will very soon be reserved for certified accounts.

Twitter wants to monetize itself at all costs, even if it means losing users along the way. A boon for its future competitors?

Twitter imposes its new TweetDeck without ceremony

Twitter has been working on a new version of the TweetDeck service for many months, so far only offered to those who voluntarily wanted to try it. Unfortunately for the blue bird, until now, this version was largely unappreciated. It was notably less complete and flexible than the classic version.

However, after months of cohabitation, Twitter has simply unplugged the “Legacy” version to impose its modern solution, improved for the occasion. It is also possible to import its data (lists, searches, columns, etc.) from the old version.

The reasons behind this abrupt change can be many. First, Twitter likely rushed the transition as part of the refresh rate fiasco the service is currently experiencing. For a few days, TweetDeck Legacy no longer worked perfectly (the notifications and activity columns no longer updated, in particular). It also appears that the Legacy API used by TweetDeck Legacy has been disconnected to limit scraping. In any case, this is what Twitter employees say. But another more obvious reason is to be noted: money.

A new, less practical version… and soon to be paid for

As feared, TweetDeck will now be part of Twitter Blue. More precisely, in 30 days, it will be necessary to be certified on Twitter to have access to TweetDeck. You will therefore have to pay, or have an official account (government, media, entertainment company, etc.) with a certification check mark.

For the record, TweetDeck is a site that is especially useful for power users and professionals using social networks, since it allows you to display several columns (feed, notifications, lists, DMs, searches, etc.) and greatly increase your productivity. . The new version loses some features and columns (such as Activities), but gains others (polls, Spaces, display of the latest tweets or recommended tweets like on Twitter, etc.).

Overall, the new version of TweetDeck looks more and more like the web version of Twitter on several columns, which may raise questions about its interest. We will note all the same the possibility of creating Decks, that is to say separate instances of the site, practical for professionals in particular. Is it enough to make users pay? This is not certain, especially since some features are missing, in particular those related to teams, temporarily deactivated to return only in a few weeks.

Sources: The Verge, Twitter