POLAND - 2023/01/24: In this photo illustration, a Twitter logo is displayed on a smartphone. (Photo ... [+]
Twitter will shut down free access to its API for third party developers, the latest effort to bring in revenue at the money-starved social media site. The platform will start to charge for access to its data on February 9, though it’s not clear yet where the company is looking to set the price. And many people who write software for a living think it’s a terrible idea.
“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,” the company tweeted from its developer account overnight.
The API, which stands for Application Programming Interface, is what allows software developers to get access to the data needed to build fun bots and apps on top of any given program.
“Twitter data are among the world’s most powerful data sets. We’re committed to enabling fast & comprehensive access so you can continue to build with us. We’ll be back with more details on what you can expect next week,” Twitter continued.
What will be lost? Useful programs like “Remind Me Of This Tweet,” use the Twitter API and will only stay online if the developers decide to pay up. But goofy and fun projects that make Twitter an enjoyable place to pass the time will also be lost. As one example, the free bot “Foxes Every Hour,” which just posts a photo of a different fox every hour, said it will stop working when Twitter’s changes take place.
Another software developer tweeted he would no longer be building projects for Twitter once the company starts charging for access on February 9.
“Next week, there won't be a free Twitter API anymore. As a result, I will stop any work on non-commercial projects that use the API and will have to re-evaluate which commercial projects are still feasible. This change will destroy research, activism and commercial projects,” Luca Hammer tweeted early Thursday.
But some people thought the move could improve Twitter, even if that opinion was definitely in the minority.
“I built 2 side projects last year on top of the Twitter api. This is a good thing imo,” one developer who goes by Trivia Troy wrote on the social media site.
“A paid api could bring more capability, higher performance, and straightforward developer approval,” Troy continued.
While it’s not clear what projects Troy has built using the Twitter API, it is clear he pays $8 per month for Twitter Blue. And Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter who’s struggled to find ways to make the site bring in fast cash, will certainly be happy to hear that.
