4 ms·

Elon Musk cannot milk Tweetbot users as much, so, goodbye 3rd-party. Predictable.

by valeg 4y ago

kuon 4y ago
Well, for me it means I'll juste stop to use it. I guess we are a minority.
- philipov 4y ago
  The great irony for me is that all the conversation about how bad twitter is becoming is still happening on twitter. After all this time, people are still unable or unwilling to switch to something else. That's how strong the platform lock-in has become.
  - amanaplanacanal 4y ago
    Not all. I’m reading it here on HN, for example.
  - jeromegv 4y ago
    There’s lots of those discussions on Mastodon.
  - madeofpalk 4y ago
    I thought I never could switch away from Twitter, until I did. I try to avoid Twitter stuff in my Mastodon timeline, but this has crept in (mostly from the app developers)
wooger 4y ago
But the only reason there is no monetisation via ads and other “innovations” in these apps is because Twitter have deliberately degraded the APIs and not kept them current with the official site/app for a decade now. Twitter could also start charging app devs for API licenses, or restrict 3rd party apps to Twitter blue users if they want to change things up.
- _djo_ 4y ago
  > Twitter could also start charging app devs for API licenses It already does, which is why Tweetbot, Twitterific and the others had to shift to subscription models. Ironically, because those third party apps pay for API access for all their global users, and Twitter Blue is only available in about five countries, cutting off third party clients will have an immediate negative impact on Twitter’s revenue.
  - generj 4y ago
    I wonder if Twitter is in breach of contract by restricting API access to their customers (the third party apps).
    - _djo_ 4y ago
      Probably, and some are looking into it. But it seems the penalties are meaningless. https://esq.social/@andrew/109684497703065388 https://esq.social/@andrew/109684497703065388
      - dragonwriter 4y ago
        > But it seems the penalties are meaningless. As noted in the thread, the agreement itself includes a tiny cap on damages, but there are legal factors which plausibly could nullify the effect of that cap.
dmatech 4y ago
I find this a bit less ethically questionable given that Tweetbot itself is earning monthly/annual subscription revenue from its users and then blocking ads. If Tweetbot's developer account isn't generating enough revenue to offset the ad revenue loss, this would be completely expected.
- _djo_ 4y ago
  Tweetbot isn’t blocking ads, and the big third party clients pay for API access.

Elon Musk cannot milk Tweetbot users as much, so, goodbye 3rd-party. Predictable.

by valeg 4y ago

Elon Musk cannot milk Tweetbot users as much, so, goodbye 3rd-party. Predictable.

kuon 4y ago

Well, for me it means I'll juste stop to use it. I guess we are a minority.

philipov 4y ago
The great irony for me is that all the conversation about how bad twitter is becoming is still happening on twitter. After all this time, people are still unable or unwilling to switch to something else. That's how strong the platform lock-in has become.
- amanaplanacanal 4y ago
  Not all. I’m reading it here on HN, for example.
- jeromegv 4y ago
  There’s lots of those discussions on Mastodon.
- madeofpalk 4y ago
  I thought I never could switch away from Twitter, until I did. I try to avoid Twitter stuff in my Mastodon timeline, but this has crept in (mostly from the app developers)

wooger 4y ago

But the only reason there is no monetisation via ads and other “innovations” in these apps is because Twitter have deliberately degraded the APIs and not kept them current with the official site/app for a decade now. Twitter could also start charging app devs for API licenses, or restrict 3rd party apps to Twitter blue users if they want to change things up.

_djo_ 4y ago
> Twitter could also start charging app devs for API licenses It already does, which is why Tweetbot, Twitterific and the others had to shift to subscription models. Ironically, because those third party apps pay for API access for all their global users, and Twitter Blue is only available in about five countries, cutting off third party clients will have an immediate negative impact on Twitter’s revenue.
- generj 4y ago
  I wonder if Twitter is in breach of contract by restricting API access to their customers (the third party apps).
  - _djo_ 4y ago
    Probably, and some are looking into it. But it seems the penalties are meaningless. https://esq.social/@andrew/109684497703065388 https://esq.social/@andrew/109684497703065388
    - dragonwriter 4y ago
      > But it seems the penalties are meaningless. As noted in the thread, the agreement itself includes a tiny cap on damages, but there are legal factors which plausibly could nullify the effect of that cap.

dmatech 4y ago

I find this a bit less ethically questionable given that Tweetbot itself is earning monthly/annual subscription revenue from its users and then blocking ads. If Tweetbot's developer account isn't generating enough revenue to offset the ad revenue loss, this would be completely expected.

_djo_ 4y ago
Tweetbot isn’t blocking ads, and the big third party clients pay for API access.