Twitter locking TweetDeck behind a paywall, forcing users to switch to the new design

Twitter has officially announced a change that many of us saw coming. Starting next month, the company is putting TweetDeck behind a paywall, requiring that users subscribe to Twitter Blue to access the more advanced, multi-column version of Twitter.

Twitter has also started migrating all Twitter users to the new version of TweetDeck and is cutting off access to the classic version.

Twitter announced the change on Monday afternoon as it continues to impose rate limits on users to limit the number of tweets they can see in a day.

Twitter has been testing a new design for TweetDeck for a long time, and the company now says the new design has been fully launched around the world. Twitter highlights “new features” of the updated TweetDeck website:

• All your saved searches, lists, and columns will carry over to the new TweetDeck. You’ll be prompted to import your columns when you load the application for the first time.
• A Tweet composer that lets you create threads and add photos, videos, GIFs, polls, or emojis to your Tweets, including scheduled Tweets.
• Support for Twitter Spaces.
• Advanced search helps you find the content you’re looking for.
• Tweet order so you can view top Tweets or latest Tweets first in columns.
• Decks that let you organize your columns into groups for cleaner workspaces.
• A Column Creator that offers a more intuitive way to create columns, and includes the ability to “Search Twitter” from within the column. Create column types like profile, topics, explore, events, moments, and bookmarks.
• Video Docking allows you to watch a video while performing other functions like accessing content in the same column, and changing Decks.

Twitter says that it is now migrating everyone to the new TweetDeck design, and they have pulled the plug on the old version. The company once again says it has made these changes as part of its efforts to “reduce scraping” of Twitter data.

In a change that is going to disrupt workflows everywhere, however, the new version of TweetDeck does not support Twitter’s “Teams” functionality. That feature lets multiple people manage multiple accounts and share access without actually sharing account passwords.

“Teams functionality in TweetDeck is temporarily unavailable and will be restored in the coming weeks,” the company says.

And last but certainly last least, Twitter has announced that TweetDeck will only be available for free for the next 30 days. After this grace period, Twitter says that users must be Verified (meaning subscribed to Twitter Blue) to access TweetDeck.