Stefan Bohacek

Oh wow. Twitter is shutting down free access to their API on February 9.

https://twitter.com/TwitterDev/status/1621026986784337922

I expected them to severely restrict access. But I never saw this coming. A true end of an era.

#twitter #TwitterAPI #bots #CreativeBots #TwitterBots

Twitter Dev on Twitter

“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
Feb 2, 2023 at 12:29pmWeb
Show threadStefan BohacekFeb 2, 2023
I wrote a few thoughts on the Botwiki blog: https://botwiki.org/blog/twitter-shutting-down-free-access-to-their-api-on-february-9/ #Twitter #TwitterAPI #TwitterBots #bots #CreativeBots
Twitter shutting down free access to their API on February 9 | Botwiki

I keep saying it's an end of an era quite often these days.

Show threadDr. Juande Santander-VelaFeb 2, 2023
@stefan it is clear which direction the puck is moving to…
Show threadHerrHerrmannFeb 2, 2023
@stefan Good closing remarks!
Show threadBornachFeb 2, 2023

@stefan

I guess this means all those with https://cheerlights.com/ driven projects will now have to jump either to Mastodon or Discord

#cheerlights #making #LEDs

CheerLights

We are all connected.

CheerLights
Show threadm8inFeb 2, 2023
@stefan I wrote my Master's thesis about measuring the public sentiment using tweets, and I put many hours into getting the data out of the API. I could only do that because the API was free and I could tinker with it a bit before having to find a topic for my thesis. Even a "paid basic plan" would've hindered me to do this, because I wasn't really interested in data science before.
I'm really sad to see that the free access will be shut down completely :/
Show threadStefan BohacekFeb 2, 2023

@m8in Yeah, this is an incredible turn of events. My only hope is that more people will start to realize that we can't let single individuals have this much power.

I don't know if Mastodon ultimately succeeds, but the fediverse itself has to, so that this doesn't happen again.

Show threadRGFeb 2, 2023
@stefan @anildash I fully support Twitter protecting and monetizing their IP. If 3rd party clients want to build on top of Twitter, they should pay for the access fair and square.
Show threadStefan BohacekFeb 2, 2023
@ravigupta @anildash Access to publicly available posts other people created for them, for free? Alright.
Show threadRGFeb 2, 2023
@stefan @anildash API development, maintenance, and usage cost real money. It is a question of ROI and basic business economics.
Show threadStefan BohacekFeb 2, 2023

@ravigupta @anildash Look, I get that this is the business model of a lot of these "tech" companies, to sell us back the stuff that we made ourselves, for each other, and that's fine, I guess, I'm just glad that more and more people are getting fed up with this and looking for alternatives.

Recommend following @mastodonusercount to see some of that ROI.

Show threadRGFeb 2, 2023
@stefan @anildash @mastodonusercount Accounts count has never been an indicator of ROI. I don't know what Mastodon's business model is, but it sure seems like the right place for bots to thrive and be useful again. May be this is what drives up Mastodon usage.
Show threadPieter van der PloegFeb 2, 2023
@stefan https://youtu.be/z4uivPpzCGo
Oh dear, how sad, nevermind.

YouTube