Twitter launches new version of TweetDeck, but there’s a catch

TweetDeck users upset over the app’s recent glitches may be happy to learn that it’s been relaunched. But they might not be so happy to learn that they’ll have to pay to use it. A Monday tweet from Twitter Support revealed that the company has just launched a “new, improved” version of TweetDeck.

TweetDeck has proven popular among many individuals and organizations who use it to better view and manage all their Twitter content and accounts. With TweetDeck, you can add and remove multiple columns of data to more easily work with different types of information at a glance. But the platform’s availability had been spotty recently, preventing people from fully accessing or using it.

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In its tweet, Twitter Support touted that all your saved searches, lists, and columns will carry over to the new TweetDeck. After launching the new version the first time, you’ll be prompted to import the columns you use.

Further, TweetDeck now supports several new features, including full composer functionality, Spaces, video docking, and polls. Access to Teams in TweetDeck is offline for now but will be restored in the next few weeks. The Help Center page on the new TweetDeck touts other features, such as the ability to switch between different accounts.

However, Twitter Support saved one more item for last, namely that in 30 days you’ll need to be verified to access TweetDeck, entailing a Twitter Blue subscription. That means individuals would have to pay $8 a month or $84 a year, while organizations would have to cough up $1,000 a month.

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Requiring a Twitter Blue verification to use TweetDeck follows similar moves by Twitter owner Elon Musk. Since taking over the company in October of 2022, Musk has tried to coax more people to purchase a Blue subscription by promoting its advantages. This level of access lets you write longer tweets, edit or undo recent tweets, organize your saved tweets into folders, and customize the Twitter app’s icon and theme.

But Musk has also tried to limit certain features to Blue subscriptions. On Saturday, the Twitter CEO revealed new restrictions that reduce the number of tweets you can read each day. As of now, the limits are a full 10,000 per day for verified users but only 1,000 unverified users and 500 for new unverified users.

The new flavor of TweetDesk has also triggered comments and complaints from users accustomed to the older version.

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“Most of my accounts signed in via @TweetDeck have vanished. Please bring them back,” tweeted one user. “I had to reset everything up yesterday, and still not even close to where my set up was,” said another. “Separate columns for mentions, likes and retweets? Notification sounds for specific columns? Notification sounds at all? Seeing tweets+replies by users in a list? These were available, and now gone,” wrote a third user.

An email sent to Twitter Press seeking commentary on the new TweetDeck received an automated reply with a poop emoji, the usual response since Musk essentially got rid of the public relations department.