Following Twitter, now known as X, accounts is a great way to keep yourself in the loop. You get the latest updates on any topic, depending on who you follow. In other words, the accounts you follow influence your timeline. On the platform, you can follow profiles interested in the same niche. Or, you like their tweets and want to continue reading more posts from them. Did you know there’s an X aka Twitter follow limit for users? Yes, the platform doesn’t allow you to follow as many accounts as you please.
Today, let’s explore X’s, previously Twitter’s follow limit and why the social media network needs this level of control. The article covers topics like these limits’ duration and tips to avoid these restrictions.
Is There a Follow Limit on Twitter Now X?
Is there a follow limit on Twitter, especially when the platform encourages users to have conversations? Yes, the platform restricts how quickly you can follow profiles within a specific time frame. However, the social media network doesn’t limit how many accounts you can follow from your profile.
Every day, you can follow a maximum of 400 accounts. However, this wasn’t always the case. Until April 2019, the limit was 1,000 follows per day.
Let’s say you stick with the follower limit and follow 400 accounts daily. Within 12 days, you will follow 4,800 profiles. On the 13th day, you’ll notice an error. After you hit 5,000 followers, you can’t follow more accounts. This is because the platform wants a healthy ratio of users who follow you to accounts you follow.
However, the social media network doesn’t tell you this figure. Instead, it automatically calculates the ratio. To summarize, the daily follow limit is 400 users. You can follow up to 5,000 accounts without thinking about the ratio. After this point, the platform only allows you to follow more accounts if your profile gets more followers.
Why Does X aka Twitter Follow Limit Exist?
Why does the platform have a follow limit? Well, the social media network wants to ensure you have authentic relationships with other users. It wants to prevent people from misusing the platform’s follow feature and promoting spam. Also, the X aka Twitter follow limit helps the social media network fight against bot accounts. This prevents these profiles from disrupting the user experience of other people on the platform.
Why X, Previously Twitter, Limits Followers to 400 per Day?
The platform conducted several tests to find the ideal X, previously Twitter follow limit. Over time, the platform understood it’s reasonable to limit accounts you can follow to 400 daily. But why 400 when the platform can go lower? Are there any reasons for Twitter limits followers to be valid?
From the social media network’s tests, 400 works well for its goal, i.e., reducing the number of spambot accounts. At this rate, it won’t affect the majority of the users. Spam and fake accounts were one of the reasons why Elon Musk didn’t want to buy Twitter.
X, previously Twitter, observed that accounts that follow more than 400 profiles every day exhibit policy-violating behavior. Also, 400 works well for business accounts that use the platform to provide customer service.
Twitter Follower Limit for Breaking the Terms of Service or Rules
You’ll encounter the X or Twitter follower limit message if you void the platform’s terms of service or rules. As highlighted in this article, X (Twitter) wants you to have genuine and authentic relationships with users.
However, the platform has rules about following other accounts. For starters, it is against the platform’s policies if you try to disrupt or manipulate the experience of other users. In other words, the social media network doesn’t want you to try and influence engagement artificially. How can you do this on the platform?
- One technique is offering monetary rewards to increase the follower count. Third-party apps usually provide this service. However, boosting your follower statistics through financial incentives is against the platform’s rules.
- Users may ask you to engage with their posts or follow them in exchange for followers. This is also a violation of the social media network’s policies.
- Follower churn is a common practice to increase the follower count. For instance, you follow 300 accounts. When these profiles follow you back, you unfollow them. You’re breaking the platform’s rules if your profile exhibits follower churn. It is also a violation if you automate this activity.
- Following irrelevant accounts, especially at random, is another technique. Again, using an automation app for this service is against the social media network’s rules.
- You follow the same accounts as another user through automation.
If your account behaves along these lines, the platform will enforce various restrictions. This means you’ll no longer be able to follow other accounts. Also, you may be unable to use other features like tweeting, retweeting or sending direct messages. In this situation, the platform will inform you about the violations when you log in.
What Should You Do When You See the X or Twitter Follower Limit Reached Message?
When you see the X or Twitter follower limit reached message, avoid following more accounts temporarily. Otherwise, you’ll continue to see the same warning from the platform. Instead, use your profile as is until the social media network removes the restriction. For instance, you can work on increasing your follower count.
What To Do When Twitter or X Follow Limit Is Due to Policy Violation?
The process differs if you want to remove the Twitter or X follow limit for breaking the platform’s rules. Let’s say the social media network restricts or locks your account because it suspects bot-like behavior. In this instance, you must show the platform you can access your profile. You must verify your account by providing your phone number or email address. It’s also possible to restore access if you solve the reCAPTCHA.
When you violate the rules, the platform limits your account. You need to acknowledge the message and start the countdown. At the end of the countdown, you can use your profile normally.
What happens if X, previously Twitter, detects that your account uses the follower churn technique? The platform will limit your account as this comes under suspicious activity. You’ll need to follow the instructions provided by the social media network. It will ask you to verify information your email address or phone number. You’ll also need to start the countdown and wait for the account limit to end.
When X (Twitter) notices suspicious or bot-like behavior and limits your account, the platform informs anyone who visits your profile. They will have to acknowledge the warning to view your account.
Also, when there’s a limit to your account, you won’t be able to use all of X’s, previously Twitter’s, features. For instance, the social media network may only allow you to browse the platform. You can send direct messages to accounts that follow you. However, you won’t be able to tweet, retweet or reply to posts.
How Long Does Follow Limit Last on Twitter, Now X?
The next question is, how long does follow limit last on Twitter, or X? Well, it depends on the hourly or daily limit. You must wait an hour if you’re over the hourly X aka Twitter follow limit. This is because of the pace at which you’re following accounts. The platform only allows you to follow a handful of accounts in one hour. Once you exceed this figure, the social media network temporarily restricts you from following more profiles.
What if you hit the daily follow limit of 400 accounts? In this case, you must wait at least 24 hours. After this period, you can follow more accounts.
What about the follow limit due to breaking the platform’s policies? The social media network will let you know how long you must wait to regain access. The length of the follow limit depends on the severity of the violation. Generally, if you get one, expect it to last a few days.
How To Avoid Twitter Follow Limit aka X Follow Limit?
Everyone wants to know the answer to how to avoid Twitter follow limits. It can be annoying, especially if you’re trying to follow more profiles to improve your feed. Or, you don’t want the platform to limit specific features on your account. Below is a guide highlighting four handful tips to ensure you don’t see the follow limit message.
Unfollow Accounts Who Don’t Follow You Back
When you follow a user on X aka Twitter, this individual has no obligation to follow you back. Initially, this won’t be a problem as you’re still growing your following count. However, once you follow 5,000 accounts, it becomes a huge issue. As highlighted earlier, the platform takes the followers to following ratio.
One way to overcome the 5,000 Twitter follow limit is to get more followers. However, this can take time. If you can’t wait, the best option is to unfollow accounts that don’t follow you back. Unfortunately, several third-party apps with auto unfollow tools like Tweepi and Who Unfollowed Me no longer work. This is due to X (Twitter) increasing the cost to access the social media network’s Application Programming Interface (API) significantly.
You can use paid services like CircleBoom and TwitNerd. If you want to see who’s not following for free, there are two solutions:
- Visit the profiles of all the accounts you follow. Look for the Follows You tag next to their username. If you don’t see it, the account doesn’t follow you.
- Go to the list of followers. All the accounts that follow you will have the Follows You tag. Users without this tag don’t follow you.
You can remove accounts that don’t follow you with these techniques. However, it only works when you follow a small number of accounts. Once it is in the thousands, it’s better to use a third-party app. Before paying to use their service, ensure the app is still active. You can follow new users once you remove these accounts from your following list.
Engage With Active Accounts
This is a great way to overcome the follow limit on Twitter, now known as X. First, you want to make sure you only follow active accounts. Before you hit the follow button, go through the user’s profile. When was the last time they tweeted on the platform? You can follow the account if it was recent, i.e., a few hours to days. Don’t follow profiles that aren’t active for several months. Why? The platform considers any account that doesn’t log in after six months to be inactive.
Also, look at the user’s profile picture. You shouldn’t follow the account if it is blank, i.e., it has the stock image.
Once you follow the user, don’t just go back and scroll through your feed. Go through the person’s timeline. Do you see any interesting posts? You can like, retweet or leave a reply. Do this for at least three posts. However, make sure the interaction is genuine. If it feels like you’re only doing this to get the user to follow you back, it won’t work.
Follow the Warm-up Technique
Don’t just spam the follow button whenever you come across a profile. If you do this frequently, the platform may mistake your actions for a bot or automation script. This can cause problems with your profile. Instead, increase the follow count gradually. Also, make sure you engage with the accounts you follow.
For example, follow ten accounts and like ten posts on the first day. You can also retweet ten posts. Next day, increase this to 20 accounts and likes. On the third day, aim for 30 profiles and likes. Although this technique is time-consuming, you won’t have to worry about the follow limit on Twitter.
Don’t Break Twitter’s aka X’s Rules and Policies
It’s important you know about the platform’s rules and policies. This way, you’ll know what to avoid to ensure the platform doesn’t limit your account. The rule of thumb is to avoid services that promise to increase your follower count. Similarly, if a profile offers to follow you back if you follow them, don’t do it.
The platform considers these types of activities as inorganic follow behavior. Improving your tweets’ quality is always better than using these services. Also, avoid the follower churn technique as much as possible. Once you follow a certain number of accounts, focus on increasing the follower count. Along with these four tips, you won’t see the message about the follow limit on X, previously Twitter.
Are you aware that X (Twitter) can limit what features you can use if your tweets break the platform’s rules? The platform will also ask you to remove these posts. What if someone else had access and posted hundreds of rule-breaking tweets? You still need to delete all of them as soon as possible. Unfortunately, if you do this on X aka Twitter, it will take you several hours, if not days.
With TweetEraser, this isn’t a problem, as you can bulk-remove posts. If you want to delete all your posts, just upload your Twitter archive. The simple interface makes removing every post easy and gives your profile a clean look. Use TweetEraser today to ensure X aka Twitter never restricts your profile because of what you post on the platform!
