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“Starting Feb 1st using a third part client will require Twitter Blue.” That’s all it would have taken. Probably would have made a huge increase in subscribers

by MBCook 4y ago

“Starting Feb 1st using a third part client will require Twitter Blue.” That’s all it would have taken. Probably would have made a huge increase in subscribers too. This is 100% a control move. He wants full control over how everyone experiences Twitter (not sure why). So this was pulled. Of course you can NEVER go back from this move.

redox99 4y ago
That's actually a really good idea
- justinclift 4y ago
  If they did some kind of revenue share (from Twitter Blue) with the third party clients their users are using, it might even provide useful funding for some of the otherwise non-commercial ones.
  - r00fus 4y ago
    Twitter could think of this as a kind of lead-generation / user retention system. Of course, Blue is essentially a bandaid of $8/mo/user over the gaping chest would that is the cost of the leveraged buyout ($13B) so I doubt Musk would consider tearing of pieces of that bandaid for goodwill or lead gen.
breput 4y ago
I can't say I totally saw this coming, but when Elon started talking about the WeChat/Everything App/X, the writing was on the all for 3rd party clients. Still, a very shortsighted move.
- justinclift 4y ago
  Wouldn't a WeChat type of approach mean encouraging third party clients/integrations/etc?
  - breput 4y ago
    I don't think so, at least for (mobile) clients, but yes for server-side integrations.
    - justinclift 4y ago
      Good point. :)
  - detaro 4y ago
    Integrations with third parties? Yes. Clients? No.
- politician 4y ago
  The writing has been on the wall for 3rd party clients since Twitter restricted API access the first dozen times pre-Elon.
  - shinratdr 4y ago
    Except not really, because they reversed course on that, added a bunch of new features, and continued to maintain and update it. It never had feature parity with the site, but it did get better over time.
TuringTest 4y ago
That's what I thought as well. They need money badly, and they have an obvious way to get it - monetize the API so that third party clients can continue using Twitter while building a business on top of it. Yet instead of supporting the strong ecosystem they already have and nurturing a symbiotic relationship with it, they burn it all?
- wholinator2 4y ago
  What are these 3 star comments I keep seeing? Bots? Is it the same kind of thing as when redditors comment "this" instead of just upvoting? It keeps cropping up with no explanation or context.
  - brazzledazzle 4y ago
    What is a 3 star comment?
gfodor 4y ago
I think that is right. A public API radically slows down product iteration since each feature needs to be considered in terms of its blast radius to third party clients. It probably burned the bridge for good this time, but killing the API to speed up product velocity isn’t an insane move if you value that more than the existing 3rd party ecosystem.
- SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
  This could’ve been communicated
  - gfodor 4y ago
    Agree, really bad it wasn’t
- sosodev 4y ago
  That's not really true. Many websites version their API and/or release new features without providing support (at least initially) via the API. That's the route Reddit has taken. There are several features that only work through the official app or website. It can be frustrating as a user of a third party client but it's a much better alternative to cutting everybody off.
  - ssnistfajen 4y ago
    Twitter sets a dangerous precedent on API policy although this hasn't been their first time doing so (https://nordicapis.com/twitter-10-year-struggle-with-developer-relations/ https://nordicapis.com/twitter-10-year-struggle-with-develop...) With feature iteration at Reddit accelerating since 2019, they may opt to do the same eventually should a desperate squeeze of user metrics/ad revenue becomes necessary down the road. Public APIs helped Reddit rapidly grow its userbase on a lean crew. It'd be a shame to see that goodwill being burned in the never-ending chase for quarterly performance results.
  - gfodor 4y ago
    What I said is definitely true - supporting that old version isn’t free - it needs to be maintained and all new features need to not inadvertently break it. I’m not saying this was necessarily a good move, but the upside to killing an API is you are able to cut any need to support any of it, including old versions.
LastTrain 4y ago
As has been pointed out many times, Twitter Blue will never be able to replace Twitter ad revenue, which was at > 1B per quarter at the time of the acquisition. I think this move is a reflection of someone at Twitter realizing that.
mzs 4y ago
>This is 100% a control move. He wants full control over how everyone experiences Twitter (not sure why). The only thing I can think of is Musk was concerned the two largest 3rd parties would create their own network seeded with something like 66% of the most influential users.
- mike_d 4y ago
  They still should. Rather than shutting down third party Twitter apps they should all get together and just swap out Mastodon for the backend.

by MBCook 4y ago

redox99 4y ago

That's actually a really good idea

justinclift 4y ago
If they did some kind of revenue share (from Twitter Blue) with the third party clients their users are using, it might even provide useful funding for some of the otherwise non-commercial ones.
- r00fus 4y ago
  Twitter could think of this as a kind of lead-generation / user retention system. Of course, Blue is essentially a bandaid of $8/mo/user over the gaping chest would that is the cost of the leveraged buyout ($13B) so I doubt Musk would consider tearing of pieces of that bandaid for goodwill or lead gen.

breput 4y ago

I can't say I totally saw this coming, but when Elon started talking about the WeChat/Everything App/X, the writing was on the all for 3rd party clients. Still, a very shortsighted move.

justinclift 4y ago
Wouldn't a WeChat type of approach mean encouraging third party clients/integrations/etc?
- breput 4y ago
  I don't think so, at least for (mobile) clients, but yes for server-side integrations.
  - justinclift 4y ago
    Good point. :)
- detaro 4y ago
  Integrations with third parties? Yes. Clients? No.
politician 4y ago
The writing has been on the wall for 3rd party clients since Twitter restricted API access the first dozen times pre-Elon.
- shinratdr 4y ago
  Except not really, because they reversed course on that, added a bunch of new features, and continued to maintain and update it. It never had feature parity with the site, but it did get better over time.

TuringTest 4y ago

That's what I thought as well. They need money badly, and they have an obvious way to get it - monetize the API so that third party clients can continue using Twitter while building a business on top of it. Yet instead of supporting the strong ecosystem they already have and nurturing a symbiotic relationship with it, they burn it all?

wholinator2 4y ago
What are these 3 star comments I keep seeing? Bots? Is it the same kind of thing as when redditors comment "this" instead of just upvoting? It keeps cropping up with no explanation or context.
- brazzledazzle 4y ago
  What is a 3 star comment?

gfodor 4y ago

I think that is right. A public API radically slows down product iteration since each feature needs to be considered in terms of its blast radius to third party clients. It probably burned the bridge for good this time, but killing the API to speed up product velocity isn’t an insane move if you value that more than the existing 3rd party ecosystem.

SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
This could’ve been communicated
- gfodor 4y ago
  Agree, really bad it wasn’t
sosodev 4y ago
That's not really true. Many websites version their API and/or release new features without providing support (at least initially) via the API. That's the route Reddit has taken. There are several features that only work through the official app or website. It can be frustrating as a user of a third party client but it's a much better alternative to cutting everybody off.
- ssnistfajen 4y ago
  Twitter sets a dangerous precedent on API policy although this hasn't been their first time doing so (https://nordicapis.com/twitter-10-year-struggle-with-developer-relations/ https://nordicapis.com/twitter-10-year-struggle-with-develop...) With feature iteration at Reddit accelerating since 2019, they may opt to do the same eventually should a desperate squeeze of user metrics/ad revenue becomes necessary down the road. Public APIs helped Reddit rapidly grow its userbase on a lean crew. It'd be a shame to see that goodwill being burned in the never-ending chase for quarterly performance results.
- gfodor 4y ago
  What I said is definitely true - supporting that old version isn’t free - it needs to be maintained and all new features need to not inadvertently break it. I’m not saying this was necessarily a good move, but the upside to killing an API is you are able to cut any need to support any of it, including old versions.

LastTrain 4y ago

As has been pointed out many times, Twitter Blue will never be able to replace Twitter ad revenue, which was at > 1B per quarter at the time of the acquisition. I think this move is a reflection of someone at Twitter realizing that.

mzs 4y ago

>This is 100% a control move. He wants full control over how everyone experiences Twitter (not sure why). The only thing I can think of is Musk was concerned the two largest 3rd parties would create their own network seeded with something like 66% of the most influential users.

mike_d 4y ago
They still should. Rather than shutting down third party Twitter apps they should all get together and just swap out Mastodon for the backend.