This move by Twitter could harm the social network.
The news was released that Twitter will stop allowing free access to its API and instead, it will offer a “basic level of payment”.
February 9, many tools for Twitter, including applications for analyzing data and tools for administration and automatic updates, dejaran de funcionar. Twitter's decision has been criticized because it will affect a wide range of apps and features important to the platform's real-time ecosystem.
Twitter API allows third parties to access and analyze public data of the platform, which is used to create bots and applications. Twitter currently offers limited free access to its API, as well as premium options for developers who need more access and enterprise features. However, Twitter has announced that this free access will no longer be available from February 9.
In a series of tweets, the official Twitter Dev account indicated that the company would stop providing support to the new v2 of their Twitter APIs.
Starting February 9, we will no longer support free access to the Twitter API, both v2 and v1.1. A paid basic tier will be available instead 🧵
— Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) February 2, 2023
The company has not disclosed how much it will charge for the use of its APIs. This change follows the Twitter API Terms of Service modification, which affected many popular third-party clients such as Tweetbot and Twitterrific. Twitter banned third-party clients and now some tools that improve the user experience may disappear.
“Twitter data is among the most powerful data sets in the world. We are committed to allowing timely and complete access so that you can continue to build with us. Over the years, hundreds of millions of people have sent over a trillion tweets and billions more every week,” Twitter account Dev said. The goal is to earn as much revenue as possible, by whatever means. possible. The most popular commercial apps on the platform, including Hootsuite and Sprout Social, already pay for full API access and are unlikely to be affected.
Twitter doesn't publicly disclose pricing for its Professional API levels, although it was reported in February of last year that the fees start at $99 per month and increase based on the level of access required.
This anouncement It has already sparked controversy. since on the two sides of the coin, on the one hand, there are projects for people who might not be willing to pay a fee for something that they are not monetizing themselves. Therefore, many bots and tools that use the free access to the Twitter API are likely to be charged or forced to shut down.
Finally, there is also another user base specific to the Twitter API: students and scientists (researchers). Twitter's new announcement could have a major impact on research in different areas, including hate speech and the promotion of terrorism online.
Universities often use Twitter to study human behavior in different regions. Limiting the free use of the API could also prevent companies from detecting the spread of false information on Twitter.
On the other hand, some will see it as another element of Twitter's crackdown on bots. Elon Musk set out to eradicate bots from Twitter after buying the platform for a whopping $44.000 billion in late October 2022.
Musk has since taken drastic measures to remove bots, some of which are having an impact, but Musk himself has also admitted that these efforts are reducing overall engagement on the platform.
What is clear is that since the arrival of Musk, the company has managed to anger, annoy and lose a large number of users and partners. Musk has been working to increase revenue and boost Twitter's monetization since the acquisition, to pay off loans and pay off a mountain of debt.
Most notably, it fired nearly two-thirds of the staff, locked user verification behind an $8 monthly subscription to Twitter Blue, and even sold company assets after Twitter closed its offices, allegedly after failing to pay.