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Twitter responds to IFFFT

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Re: Twitter responds to IFFFT

#11

Post by adambarber »

protomyth wrote: post #9
ars wrote: post #8

It looks to me like twitter is hurting for money, and they are trying to reduce costs by reducing API usage. It could also be they want more ads, and 3rd party usage of the API would bypass that. If anyone wanted to buy them, now would be a good time.

I wonder what would have happened if twitter had said all free accounts must use the twitter app or website, and pro-accounts (let's say $5/month) can use the full API with 3rd party apps?

It could mean less money overall, if advertisers want to target the kind of user who would sign up for an ad-free pro account.

Re: Twitter responds to IFFFT

#13

Post by protomyth »

adambarber wrote: post #11
protomyth wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what would have happened if twitter had said all free accounts must use the twitter app or website, and pro-accounts (let's say $5/month) can use the full API with 3rd party apps?

It could mean less money overall, if advertisers want to target the kind of user who would sign up for an ad-free pro account.

I never said ad-free, but I guess certain clients could block or hide those.

Re: Twitter responds to IFFFT

#16

Post by jwilliams »

So rather than clarify the new Twitter Policies, it would be more interesting to be told why they are making these changes.

Everyone is assuming it's because they want to lock down their platform... & lock it down along what seem pretty moveable and arbitrary lines. Why else would they do it? I'm a casual observer, but I have been following pretty carefully, and it's completely unclear to me.

So -- If it's not, they should just say. If it is, the Twitter developer ecosystem has plenty of reason to be worried about their homework.

Re: Twitter responds to IFFFT

#17

Post by MichaelApproved »

gms wrote: post #15

Why do people consider it a right to have constant access to a Twitter API? Twitter is a private, for-profit company, not a charity, no?

Even a charity has the right to do what they want (sans contracts).

The outrage is because they changed their possession and it's serving as a warning to other developers who are interested in developing on their platform. It's important to point out when a business is hostile or friendly to API developers so they'll know if it's worth their time to develop a product based on said API.

Re: Twitter responds to IFFFT

#19

Post by rhizome »

shazow wrote: post #7

> “We continue to spend an extraordinary amount of money providing a free API” that’s being accessed at “a ridiculous rate of queries per second.” As Twitter continues to build out its platform, it will do so in an open way, he added. If the proportion of API calls are increasingly from Twitter's own apps, does that count? Also related, this quote from @dickc: > Twitter's committed to stay open & is building free too…

Well, the question being raised by Costolo is, "why don't we know what the big picture is yet, are you just holding it over our heads?"

I've said since the beginning of these recent actions that there's going to be another shoe to drop (the last weeks' actions all being the first shoe). I'll say now that "the big picture" he mentions but neglects to describe is indeed this other shoe.

Re: Twitter responds to IFFFT

#20

Post by amix »

jwilliams wrote: post #16

So rather than clarify the new Twitter Policies, it would be more interesting to be told why they are making these changes. Everyone is assuming it's because they want to lock down their platform... & lock it down along what seem pretty moveable and arbitrary lines. Why else would they do it? I'm a casual observer, but I have been following pretty carefully, and it's completely unclear to me. So -- If it's not, they…

My guess is that they want full control. If you look at Apple it is clear that there are huge advantages in having this control. Not only is it possible to build a better and more streamlined experience, it's also much easier to monetize a Twitter that they fully control.
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