Twitter raises its follow limit to 5,000 users
Twitter may be having trouble getting more people to use its service, but it's at least offering more headroom for the folks who've already signed up. In a confirmation of what some people had seen earlier in the week, it just raised the follow limit for everyone from 2,000 to 5,000. Previously, you could only break that 2,000-user ceiling if you had a high-enough ratio of followers. The company didn't explain why it's suddenly being so liberal, but it's likely confident that its anti-spam tools will prevent bots from abusing this newfound freedom.
It won't be surprising if the higher limit is meant to keep you around longer. For Twitter, attracting users isn't just about suggesting people to follow -- it has to make sure there's enough content to read in the first place. While it's entirely possible to see a lot of activity when you're following 2,000 accounts, the 5,000-user limit increases the chances that you'll see something interesting. If nothing else, this will save long-term veterans from having to unfollow some people simply to track others.
