Twitter Bans Linking On Bio Pages & Social Media Links [updated]

UPDATE December 19, 2022: A few hours after announcing Twitter’s new policy, Twitter appears to have reversed the decision by removing all mention of “Promotion of a separate social media policy”. The situation has been very fluid, and Twitter may change this policy again.

Original article for December 18, 2022:

On December 18, 2022 during the World Cup finals, Twitter announced “Promotion of a different social media policy” (link removed by Twitter). It’s huge and can have a huge impact on creators who use a link on a bio page, social media link aggregators, to promote other social media platforms and products.

First, Twitter now bans “free promotion of banned third-party social networks”. What this means is that you cannot post links to your Facebook page, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Post and Nostr or use the username in a Tweet or your account account.

Examples of Twitter offers:

• “follow me @username on Instagram”
• “[email protected]”
• “check out my profile on Facebook – facebook.com/username”

However, the ban is not just for social media…

Link to Bio or Microsite Banned on Twitter

Twitter now prohibits linking to bio sites, i.e. microsites or social media link aggregators, such as Linktr.ee and Lnk.bio, both specifically named in the policy.

Why is a link in bio important? Social media platforms, such as Instagram, allow users to share photos and videos, engage with others through likes and comments, and build their own community. But for example, one thing that Instagram does not allow users to include a clickable link in their posts. Link in bio pages allow creators to have one optimized mobile page that showcases other social media platforms, websites, and products. On Twitter, you’ll often see creators add their profile page to their website link.

If Twitter detects that you have violated this policy it will remove your Tweet and temporarily lock your account, and may eventually lead to permanent suspension.

This could have a lasting impact on creators who rely on their bios to run their business.

Ayrshare Link on Bio Page

Ayrshare is also affected by this policy change, specifically our bio page API called Ayrlink, which allows businesses to create bio pages for their users. We now recommend that companies do not have their users post Ayrlink bio pages on Twitter. However, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Facebook are still great social media sites to post your bio link.

However, our social media API is completely unaffected by this policy change.