What Does “Twitter Rate Limited” Mean?

twitter rate limited

Twitter is one of the leading social media platforms with maximum reach. Many voices went unheard before Twitter came into the picture. And hence, it proves to be the platform that is free of speech and bridges the gap between authorities and the common man. 

With trending hashtags and posts on any topic, revolutions begin on Twitter in the 21st century. But since with millions of users comes the same amount of responsibility, Twitter needs to make some boundaries.

Twitter gets over thousands of requests in a day. However, a single platform can’t register and comprehend these requests. Hence, Twitter puts a limit on requests on the platform. 

Twitter developers find time to manage the developer requests coming from a large volume of users. There are different ways in which each department APIs use rate limits for Twitter.

What Does “Rate Limited” Mean?

In simple words, Rate Limited is a technical term used for restrictions and limitations on receiving requests from the users for a network. 

Rate Limited is the maximum number of requests a user can send to any network in a given frame of time. Activities like spamming, web scraping, attacks, and viruses can be saved by putting a rate limit on any certain network. 

This saves the authenticity and improves performance if the network or platforms on which rate limit is implemented.

Rate limit also restricts the recurrence i.e the frequency of the same activity performed within the same time range by the user. 

It allows you to perform certain activities in a fixed amount and in a certain way for the given time window. This allows the network to get time to process requests and make necessary advancements based on the requests without any chaos. 

This also reduces the chances of mistakes by the network or the user himself.

What Does “Twitter Rate Limited” Mean?

With thousands of developer requests every day, Twitter tends to limit any updates and request registration for a fixed window of time Or a particular duration in a day. 

Generally, this time ranges from fifteen minutes to an hour. During this time, Twitter restricts any updates from Twitter developers to the requests of users.

However, the rate limit highly depends on the operation you are performing or the authentication method you choose for operations on Twitter. 

If any of these limits are exceeded the requests are returned and restricted for the time being. However, once this time has passed, you can make requests for the Twitter developers in limit again. 

Twitter rate limit allows the users and the developers to build an appropriate time gap between the execution of the requests made by users during the allowed time window.

Also Read: Can People See What You Search on Twitter?

What Does Rate Limit Exceeded Mean On Twitter?

If you are unable to make requests and have a rate limit exceeded message flashing on your TweetDeck page, do not worry. To restrict the overuse of APIs, Twitter puts a rate limit. 

Once you make more than 100 API summons or calls in an hour, this message starts flashing on your screen and all the calls are restricted. 

For the next one hour, you will not be able to perform any activities on your Tweetdeck account. All functions such as DM, replies, etc. Are thereafter restricted for an hour.

However, do not worry, once this hour of restriction gets over, you can easily get updates and perform all sorts of operations on your account same as before. It works similar to a reset clock which resets after an hour and your new rate limit is started from scratch.

Sorry You Are Rate Limited Please Wait A Few Seconds And Try Again

While effortlessly using Tweetdeck, one can easily lose track of times they’ve made a call to APIs. However, Twitter doesn’t. Once you cross a hundred calls, it restricts your account from all sorts of activities for a complete hour. You can sit back and relax until this hourglass has turned the other way.

Once this hour is complete, you can run your account as usual. But, if you try to operate your account within any interval during this one hour, the message saying sorry you are rate limited please wait a few seconds and try again will come up on your screen. 

This is nothing but an update that your one hour of restriction due to the rate limit is not yet over and you will have to wait for a few more moments until you can log in and function your account for various operations.

How Long Does Limit Last On Twitter?

The rate limit is highly dependent on the type and form of algorithm you are using for operating your account. Like there are different request bars for different time intervals, you can easily check the limit function on your account.

The most common time restriction applied by Twitter is fifteen minutes under its most common 900/15 rule. 

It allows you to make 900 requests every 15 minutes. But, this can vary from type to type. As, if you make more than 100 APIs, you will have to wait for an hour to be able to operate your account once again. 

Therefore, it can vary with the type and kind of interface in which you are engaging your account.

How To Fix “Twitter Rate Limited” Error?

Fixing the Twitter limit is not very easy. Once you are locked in the timeout, all you can do is wait for it to get over. There is no such escape from such a situation. However, you can prevent it from happening. 

There are certain ways like less use of% settings in the system, running a single Twitter application at a certain time, reducing the use of the refresh button, etc. 

To prevent the situation of being timed out of your account under the rate limit of Twitter. You can also keep an updated chart of your time durations to make sure you plan accordingly.

How To Bypass The Twitter Rate Limit?

There is no easy way to bypass the Twitter rate limit. Twitter is very strict about its rules and regulations regarding the rate limit. 

It does not allow you to bypass the rate limit easily. All you can do is to keep a check and stay in the given range by Twitter itself to reduce the risks of rate limit exceeding.

Conclusion

Twitter pits a rate limit to ensure better performance and accurate execution of the development requests made by the users. This limit is also important for the users to maintain the decorum and security of the platform. 

You can get back to operating your account as normal once your restrictions are lifted. If you do not want to wait for that much, you need to stay within the limit and effortlessly operate your account.