Chris TrottierTwitter is killing free API access.
Will most devs pay for access? No thanks.
If what happened to 3rd party clients proves true, I have a feeling many devs will move their efforts to the Fediverse.
Killing free API access is an incredibly terrible business decision from Twitter.
1. It was once free
2. It’s main competitor (Mastodon) doesn’t just offer a free API, it’s open source
3. It’s also competing with ActivtyPub
Elon Musk is motivating the Fediverse ecosystem!
What Elon Musk doesn’t realize is that there’s a whole lot of devs who used Twitter’s API, not because of the network effect, but because it was a free API to build neat products upon.
Now you’ve removed the biggest motivation for actually using that API.
People still ask, “What if Twitter joins the Fediverse?”
A better question: with all the effort they’re putting in to destroy free Twitter API access, why would they want to join the Fediverse?
Elon Musk bought Twitter for the network effect. We know that.
Twitter’s actual technology is unimpressive, and the reason Mastodon is able to actually be a viable alternative is because it actually reached feature parity in *most* of the ways that matter.
But a network effect is only important insofar as people desire to use the tech.
What current Twitter doesn’t appreciate is that a free API is a mechanism that allows small projects to leap frog larger corporations.
Former Twitter knew that. It’s how they became Twitter.
Elon Musk is probably thinking, “What can Masodon do? They have a handful of employees.”
And that’s his undoing.
Other devs will build on Mastodon because the API is free—and Twitter’s isn’t anymore.
Frank Bennett 🇯🇵@atomicpoet The Twitter API has been used by disaster-notification bots, such as Japan's NERV system. If Twitter aspired to serve a public service role, it seems that's been abandoned.