After several days of uncertainty and speculation, Twitter confirms it intentionally blocked third-party clients like a tweetbot. Company shared tweet in the official account for developers, where the reason for such a decision is indicated. According to information in the social network you apply your API rules that have been around for a long time.
The ruling confirms what was said over the weekend, when a leak assured that the move was deliberate. “Twitter enforces its own API rules. This may result in some applications not working,” he said on one of his official channels. It’s strange that the company does not mention which rule (or rules) third-party applications violate..
Twitter also did not share a link to its terms of use or contact the affected developers. According to edge, Tweetbot co-creator Paul Haddad said they are still waiting for an official response from the company. “If there is any rule that we have been unknowingly breaking for the last 10 years or more, we would like to know what it is so that, if possible, we can follow it,” Haddad said.
Both Tweetbot and other affected customers remain attentive to what Elon Musk or the official channel may have to say. After the closure of the communication zone due to mass layoffs, tweets tycoon Musk and media leaks are the only alternatives to find out what’s going on in the company. So far there is only confusion, since there are other applications that have not been affected.
Twitter may permanently block Tweetbot
Twitter’s decision about block third party clients occurs due to violation of API rules. The company did not disclose which section was violated, although I could come up with a new rule to justify this.. The most recent example of this was changing the terms of use to ban links to Mastodon, Instagram, and other social media, a move that was reversed within hours.
The blocking of Tweetbot and other apps is due to Twitter’s aggressive advertising strategy. After the arrival of Elon Musk, the company you are trying to maximize the number of ads which are displayed for each user. If you saw two ads on the screen when you opened the app, you know what we mean.
The fact that users are paying to use a client that removes ads means that Twitter’s revenue is declining. The decision to intentionally block them makes sense, after all, companies like Instagram or YouTube do the same and prevent third parties from using their platforms. Added to this is the appearance of a new “For You” tab, where the algorithm offers personalized content.
It is worth mentioning that This is not the first time Twitter has tried to kill third-party clients. In August 2012, the social network introduced controversial API change which limited apps to 100,000 users. This decision has been criticized by many, especially those using Tweetbot for Mac who had to survive with this limitation.
now everything is different and no more Jack Dorsey trying to balance business with what is fair to users. Twitter is a company and Elon Musk needs to get back his $44 billion investment. If this means permanently shutting down the faucet for third-party clients, you will do so without a second thought.
Source: Hiper Textual