Chris Trottier

3rd party Twitter clients no longer have access to Twitter's API.

The response from Twitter? Silence.

That Twitter won't say anything is egregious. It demonstrates they should never be trusted with any developer ecosystem again.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/third-party-twitter-apps-stop-working-in-what-appears-to-be-a-widespread

Third-Party Twitter Apps Stop Working in What Appears to Be a Widespread Outage

The company's silence leaves users and developers guessing: glitch or deliberate cutoff?

PCMag
Jan 13, 2023 at 6:41pmWeb
Show threadJono FergusonJan 13, 2023

@atomicpoet I thought that had happened ages ago.

Then again, I think time lost all meaning for me a few years ago

Show threadChris TrottierJan 13, 2023
@jonoabroad They limited API access. This right here is something else entirely.
Show threadMirishuliJan 13, 2023
@jonoabroad @atomicpoet Ita almost like Elmo thinks more of Nazis and insurrectionists than he does of developers! My. My.
Show threadJono FergusonJan 13, 2023
@MiriShuli @atomicpoet I think it is less related to malice and more to incompetence
Show threadJono FergusonJan 13, 2023
@atomicpoet poeeibly I had stored something on my memory as a bool instead of an enum
Show threadJoYoJan 13, 2023
@atomicpoet 3rd party apps were the only thing twitter had going for it, before musk.
Show threadChris Alemany 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸 🌱Jan 13, 2023
@atomicpoet Tweeten still seems to work?
Show threadChris TrottierJan 13, 2023
@chrisale If you want to keep using that client, I suggest that you don't log out!
Show threadChris Alemany 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸 🌱Jan 13, 2023

@atomicpoet or maybe I’ll logout and see what happens because. 🤷‍♂️ 😊

I logged out of Tweeten (macOS App) on my main account and successfully logged back in. I’ll keep an eye on it, but at least at this moment that client is still working.

Show threadMichael BuckleyJan 13, 2023
@chrisale Hootsuite still works for me also
Show threadMakerGeekJan 13, 2023
@atomicpoet I remember way back in the old days when I, a random individual, was able to get whitelisted API access to provide a free Twitter client on the Nokia n900 that wasn't rate limited. There was no official client and I guess no market for anyone else making one. Those days are clearly long gone. An equivalent niche platform now would just be out of luck.
Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesJan 13, 2023

@atomicpoet
Twitter is simply not a reliable product - not technically, not its moderation and not its strategic direction.

Why does anyone continue to give it credibility through use. Musk has told us where he's headed. Believe him.

Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenJan 13, 2023

@TCatInReality @atomicpoet Agree, but not so much for the regular users, but the governments, and their officials, and the journalists, who are literally behaving as if they are fentanyl addicts (let's be real here, they're dopamine addicts), and the red muppet Manchurian Qovidiot fifth columnist for Putin & Xi plague rat is their only dealer. Even as the very drug they are addicted to, does everything in its power to destroy them.

It's gross!

Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesJan 14, 2023

@thespoonless @atomicpoet
It is gross

But every user helps confer legitimacy on Twitter. If regular users flee, the corps and media would be gone in a minute.

Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenJan 14, 2023
@TCatInReality @atomicpoet You would think, but the journalists and the politicians don't seem to be giving up, any time soon. Not in enough numbers to convince, for example, the federal government of Canada to shut down all of their accounts.
Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesJan 14, 2023

@thespoonless @atomicpoet
If the "regular users" go, the gov and journalists will go.

#TwitterMigration

Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenJan 15, 2023
@TCatInReality @atomicpoet Maybe. They don't seem to have budged, so far.
Show threadArveJan 13, 2023

@atomicpoet The question here is "Malice" or "Horrible incompetence".

In the "Malice" department, we have "they don't want you to export your contacts to a new platform".

In the "Horrible incompetence", we have them defaulting on rent agreements, and being left only with green card slaves.

I'd wager it's a 50/50 mix

Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenJan 13, 2023
@arve @atomicpoet ....why does any government, anywhere, still maintain any kind of a presence on that single website? @paulatics?
Show threadEduardo FonsecaJan 13, 2023
@atomicpoet You mean API clients simulating twitter functionality? That has been against the rules for ages.
Show threadChris TrottierJan 13, 2023
@efonsecabcr No, but I suggest that you read the article.
Show threadPatrickJan 13, 2023
@atomicpoet Prediction: Elmo lets it sit over the weekend, and starts twisting 3rd party apps for umm, licensing fees or some other thing he makes up to call his brilliant new protection racket.
Show threadSteve WhiteJan 13, 2023
@GossiTheDog @atomicpoet @atomicpoet

I just fired up twitterific for the first time in six months and it updated just fine. Is it regional? OS specific?
Show threadFuturist Jim CarrollJan 13, 2023

@stwhite @GossiTheDog @atomicpoet

Some reports that it's not the API but the API authorization.

Show threadDavid Crooks 🏳️‍🌈Jan 13, 2023

@atomicpoet @GossiTheDog

For me personally it was the end of my time on Twitter - time to move on.

Show threadkarinchuJan 13, 2023
@atomicpoet Probably because after the latest changes a lot of us went and grabbed another app. Freaking site is nearly unusable.
Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenJan 13, 2023
@universeodon @atomicpoet Yah they removed "Latest" from the search results. Which is bizarre, because you would think they would *want* the amygdala-damaged insane devolved primates left over there to be obsessively doomscrolling the trending topic that China/Russia/Iran/Saudi Arabia has bought from Elon, and wants his dopamine fiend addicts to believe.
Show threadkarinchuJan 13, 2023
@thespoonless @atomicpoet oh more than that. They’ve split everything into “for you” and “following”. Nothing firm outside or barely anything of my follows comes through. And yeah the inability to go to a latest sucks. I HATE that little statistics thing that shoved all your useful interactive buttons over. Ugh.
Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenJan 14, 2023

@universeodon @atomicpoet Yikes! If stuff like that doesn't make the users leave in droves, maybe nothing will.

You can still use the Search Advanced syntax on Nitter, though, which is a useful workaround - and does NOT give the avian droppings container any oxygen.

https://nitter.unixfox.eu/

Nitter
Show threadkarinchuJan 14, 2023
@thespoonless @atomicpoet ok here’s the weird thing I’ve noticed with searching. When I search a hashtag or term I get a slew of returns that have neither the term or hashtag in them. It’s not 100% but it is often. (Which makes no sense to me but I’m serious it’s not always working right).
Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenJan 15, 2023

@universeodon @atomicpoet It always used to do this. Whatever "trending" term the foreign state bad actors have purchased is, it will get shoved in your face, 24/7/365 no matter what you search for. It's always been like this, even before the red muppet Manchurian Qovidiot fifth columnist for Putin and Xi took over.

It's a feature, not a bug. Literally!

Show threadkarinchuJan 16, 2023
@atomicpoet @thespoonless hmmm I didn’t have that problem pre-musket.
Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenJan 17, 2023
@universeodon @atomicpoet Maybe they were testing it on me. 🤮
Show threadThe Spoonless KitchenJan 16, 2023
@universeodon @atomicpoet Update: As of a few hours ago, "Latest" was back.
Show threadkarinchuJan 18, 2023
@thespoonless @atomicpoet I never have gotten this back.
Show threadScott KnowlesJan 13, 2023
@atomicpoet I use Twitterbot and Twitterific apps with Twitter's app, and noticed the disconnect this morning. I don't believe it was accidental, but clearly intentional to make a point with third party app developers and users. Programmers aren't that stupid. Question is what Twitter wants from them and users.
Show thread bitterseedsJan 13, 2023
@atomicpoet Apparently it's working again. I just checked Fenix on my phone. It works. Not sure this was malice as much as incompetence.
Show threadCharles JohnsonJan 14, 2023

It isn’t ALL third party apps. I’m using one right now that posts to Twitter through the API and it’s working fine.

It seems like the most popular 3rd party apps are being specifically targeted because they’re not putting money in Musk’s pocket.

Show threadFeynman 🔴Jan 14, 2023
@atomicpoet @GossiTheDog I believe this is due to a vulnerability in their API.
Show threadFanua 🌐Jan 14, 2023
@atomicpoet My third-party Twitter app still works; works now, worked yesterday, verified with mobile website timeline.
Show threadAndrew LeaheyJan 14, 2023

@atomicpoet

We're over here working out if there is more to it in terms of liability for Twitter:

https://esq.social/@andrew/109684497703065388

Andrew Leahey (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Birdsite #developer agreement seems to suggest they'd need to give notice before yoinking the plug on the API. Any #law folks who do this kind of work and can speak better to it want to weigh in? I am but a humble tax clown. https://developer.twitter.com/en/developer-terms/agreement-and-policy #lawfedi #twitter @[email protected] #lawprofs @[email protected]

esq.social
Show threadDaniel JonssonJan 14, 2023
@atomicpoet I wonder if it was intentional
Show threadwascaliwabbitJan 14, 2023
@atomicpoet when you fire 75% of the staff, nobody left to fix things