TweetDeck down for some, likely due to amplified rate-limiting

Some Twitter users are reporting that TweetDeck is down for them. Some are seeing the web app stalled with “Loading” spinners; others are getting Retry buttons that do nothing; and yet others are seeing populated columns frozen in time …

TweetDeck: Latest chapter in a sad story

TweetDeck used to be the Mac app of choice for professional users, such as brand managers, PR folks, and journalists. It offered multiple columns, allowing users to quickly and easily monitor Twitter feeds by either selected accounts or keywords.

It also supported multiple Twitter accounts, so a PR agency, for example, could use a single app to tweet for multiple brands.

Twitter unexpectedly killed TweetDeck for Mac a year ago, pointing users to the inferior web interface. Other options were also available, but none offered the convenience and ease of the TweetDeck app.

TweetDeck down

Now, though, even the web version is failing for many. Some, like Michael Dubakov, are simply seeing loading spinners for each column, with no data populating.

Others are seeing non-responsive Retry buttons.

Others, like me, are seeing populated columns that simply fail to update, leaving the feeds frozen in time.

As TechCrunch notes, this is likely due to the web app amplifying the rate limit problem.

Given that TweetDeck loads up multiple tweets through various columns simultaneously, it’s likely that the effects of the read restrictions are amplified within TweetDeck.

A year ago, Twitter said that it planned to launch a new and improved version of the TweetDeck web app, but there has so far been no sign of this.

Screengrab: Philipp Kloeckner