Mike Masnick ✅Jul 1, 2023
This is hilariously stupid. I mean, just painfully stupid. And, yes, it's real.
Pete RoganJul 1, 2023
Show threadAaron Toponce ⚛️

@mmasnick APIs were created as a more efficient way of getting to data versus web scraping. So when he killed API access, of course devs turned back to web scraping to get the data.

No doubt that created additional load on the servers, so he thinks limiting access to the data via requiring an account to view tweets and rate limiting web resources is a good solution.

But now he's just limited ad exposure. Aren't ads a large driver to revenue? So, yeah, this is tremendously stupid.

Jul 1, 2023 at 6:35pmWeb
Show threademmatonkinJul 1, 2023

@atoponce @mmasnick
I know right. All that whining about the expense of running the API, both from Twitter and Reddit, and I'm sitting there thinking: I'm old enough to remember when engineers built these things for exactly the reasons you describe.

It's like all the actual engineers have left these companies and the techbros running them now are people who've never benchmarked a service in their lives.

Show threadCaner ÖncüJul 1, 2023
@atoponce @mmasnick I think it is just a casus belli to make more money off of people. Seriously doubt it is related to scraping.
Show threadAaron Toponce ⚛️Jul 1, 2023

@caneroncu @mmasnick It's all about web scraping. Tweets are no longer public. They're behind a login, which means all embedded tweets in blog posts and such broke. This effectively cuts off scraping tools. Which means only logged in accounts can web scrape.

Soooo, he's rate limiting logged in accounts to also limit web scraping. The 6,000 vs 600 & 300 limits is just a perk to subscribe to Twitter Blue.

Further, requiring logged in accounts also means you can track who is scraping.

Show threadBodie 🇺🇲🤝🇺🇦Jul 1, 2023
@atoponce @caneroncu @mmasnick
I don't buy any of this. I mean maybe that's the cover story but the site is clearly broken. It's just as unusable now as when I logged in this morning. Comments do not appear. You can no longer read threads beyond the first tweet. My timeline is 'frozen' so maybe that's where these numbers apply and my set amount was like preloaded for the day.
Show threadBodie 🇺🇲🤝🇺🇦Jul 1, 2023
@atoponce @caneroncu @mmasnick Different users report different levels of brokenness, for example regardless of w/e limit (using a burner I set up very recently, unverified) I can search posts or others timelines and scroll away all day. Others cannot even if they have blue check.
Show threadAaron Toponce ⚛️Jul 1, 2023
@Bodie @caneroncu @mmasnick Oh, yeah. It's definitely broken. That's what Musk gets for firing his engineering and development teams. I suspect it'll be some time before the dust settles and it's stable.
Show threadBornachJul 1, 2023

@atoponce @mmasnick

Don't worry. He's thought of that.

Viewing an ad doesn't count towards your limited quota
https://tenor.com/en-GB/view/smart-gif-20689814

Tenor
Show threadAaron Toponce ⚛️Jul 1, 2023
@bornach @mmasnick The ad itself, sure. But once you hit your quota, you have to wait a specific time before you can view tweets ... or ads.
Show threadCoach Pāṇini ®Jul 1, 2023

@atoponce @mmasnick
I hope product managers who are (and are not) fanbois are watching this.

And learning.

What not to do.

Show threadProScience 🇪🇺Jul 1, 2023

@atoponce @mmasnick

Melon Husk /is/ stupid because of his megalomania.

Show threadStephen DrennanJul 1, 2023
@atoponce @mmasnick
With this calibre of planning & decision making, I expect he’ll be announced as a UK Tory Minister soon. Certainly has a good enough ‘attack law & democracy’ points.
Show threadmagneyJul 2, 2023
@AVO8OHM @atoponce @mmasnick He already switched to the US Republican Party right ahead of a sex scandal about him breaking, so he could claim it was politically motivated. If he ever decided to take his clown show to the UK, I'm sure he'd be a shoo-in for the Tories.