Twitter is ending free API access next week, killing off swathes of apps in the process
Having already banned all third-party clients, Twitter has now announced that it is completely dropping free access to its APIs. In an announcement made via the Twitter Dev account, the company says: "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".
The move will effectively kill off unknown -- but large -- numbers of apps and tools that depend on the Twitter API. While getting rid of free API access is unlikely to impact larger apps such as Hootsuite, those produced by smaller, independent developers are unlikely to be able to shoulder the costs.
Section platform makes it easier to deploy Mastodon servers
Following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, Mastodon has been the platform of choice for many of the people seeking to flee the blue bird platform, or just looking for a lifeboat in case Twitter finally sinks.
One of the strengths of Mastodon, but also one of its drawbacks, is its distributed, open source nature whereby people can stand up their own Mastodon servers. This means there's no central control, however, you need some technical expertise to create and run a server.
Twitter officially bans all third-party clients, forcing people to use its own apps
While there has still been no announcement, Twitter has updated its developer agreement so that third-party clients are now prohibited. Over the course of the last week or so, we've already seen the likes of Tweetbot and Twitterific rendered useless after the company blocked API access.
Twitter later said that it was merely enforcing long-standing rules, but failed to provide any details or clarification. But now a new developer agreement has been published that slaps a ban on the creation of, "a substitute or similar service or product to the Twitter Applications" -- in other words, third party Twitter apps are now forbidden.
Twitter confirms that it is deliberately blocking numerous third-party clients
Users of various third-party Twitter clients have been frustrated over the last week as their chosen apps stopped working. There was speculation that Twitter was blocking apps on purpose, with internal communication appearing to substantiate this.
Now we know for sure that it is the case, with the company confirming it in a tweet. Twitter says that it is merely "enforcing its long-standing API rules", conceding that this "may result in some apps not working". But there is confusion from app developers who say that Twitter is not revealing which rules it is referring to.
Tweetbot and other third-party clients stop working as Twitter 'intentionally' blocks API access
If you are a Tweetbot user who found yourself unable to access Twitter, you're not alone. Tweetbot, along with various other third-party Twitter clients stopped working on Thursday, it seems as though this is the result of an intentional block by Twitter.
Although the company has yet to say anything to either confirm or deny that third-party access to the Twitter API has been blocked, it is something that has been confirmed in leaked internal communication from Twitter engineers. One says: "third-party app suspensions are intentional".
Twitter removes suicide prevention feature at Musk's request -- [UPDATED: it's back, with Musk claiming 'fake news']
Twitter has, without making an announcement, removed a feature that directed users towards suicide prevention services after searching for certain content.
The #ThereIsHelp feature was removed after Elon Musk issued an order to that effect. Sources familiar with the matter say that the removal is only temporary and that a revamped version will be launched in the future. But the social platform has been criticized not only for the timing -- Christmas is a tough time for many people -- but also for removing the existing support feature before having a replacement ready. [UPDATE -- the feature is now back. Despite the fact Twitter confirmed its removal, Musk used a series of tweets to denounce reports that it had temporarily been removed as 'fake news']
Twitter rolls out View Count so you can check how many people viewed a tweet
Things have been more than a little turbulent at Twitter since Elon Musk took over at the company. Having overseen various controversial changes including an overhaul to the verification system, the CEO has now announced a feature that is likely to be rather less divisive -- View Count.
The feature is a very simple idea, revealing how many people have viewed a tweet. The information is public so you can see how popular other people's tweet are as well as monitoring your own viewing figures.
To get verified on Twitter, you just need a phone number -- and between $8 and $11
Starting Monday 12 December, Twitter is relaunching Twitter Blue and giving users the opportunity to pay for the blue checkmark of verification.
Since Elon Musk took over at Twitter, the decision to open up verification to anyone willing to pay was one of the more controversial decisions. The scheme was paused last month, but now the paid-for blue tick is opening up once again. This time around, however, things are a little different, with iOS users getting a worse deal.
You could soon be able to grab the Twitter handle of your dreams
One of the problems with signing up for just about any online service, particularly social platforms, is trying to bag yourself the username you want. On Twitter, this could be about to get a bit easier.
It is no secret that since Elon Musk took over the company, Twitter users have been leaving the site in droves, mainly to Mastodon. Add to this the number of accounts that were set up years ago and never used, accounts that have fallen inactive and there are a lot of Twitter handles that could be opened up to new owners -- and this is precisely what is on the cards.
Elon Musk lets Donald Trump back on Twitter after users vote to lift the ban on the ex-president
Almost two years after Donald Trump was banned from Twitter, Elon Musk has permitted the former US president back onto the site. Trump was evicted form the site following the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol
This weekend Musk conducted a poll on Twitter asking people to vote about whether or not to "reinstate former President Trump". After more than 15 million votes were cast, a majority voted in favor, and it wasn't long before Trump's account was reactivated.
Facebook is revamping user profiles, removing political views, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and more
In the world of social media, most of the attention is -- understandably -- focused on what's happening at Twitter, but there are changes afoot at Facebook too.
Starting at the beginning of December, some information fields are being removed from user profiles. The fields in question are Religious Views, Political Views, Address, and Interested In, with the latter being the field used to indicate sexual orientation.
Twitter could be about to die; here's how to download your tweets
Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter has been nothing short of chaotic, leading to thousands of employees being fired, an unknown number resigning, countless users jumping ship, and confusion for those left behind. So... what to do? Download your Twitter archive.
It is one thing to find a new home on a Twitter alternative such as Mastodon, but what about everything you are leaving behind? While the future of Twitter is very much an unknown, it is hanging in the balance, and recent events have shown that just about anything is possible. Rumors abound about the site being closed, so if you are concerned about losing years' worth of tweets -- many of which may contain valuable data -- here's how to go about downloading them for posterity.
Raspberry Pi creates its own Mastodon server -- running on a Raspberry Pi 4
Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, and he's been doing a terrible job of running things. He made the verification status confusing and nonsensical, but worst of all, he quickly fired thousands of workers. And so, many Twitter users have been abandoning the platform and switching to alternatives. You can find yours truly on Mastodon, for instance.
The folks over at Raspberry Pi are not abandoning Twitter (yet), but they are very alarmed by Musk's erratic behavior. As a result, they have created an account on the Mastodon social network in case they do decide to jump ship. Actually, they took things a step further and have begun running their own Mastodon server (also known as an "instance") at raspberrypi.social.
Six of the best alternatives to Twitter
Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter has polarized opinion, there are those who think he's a champion of free speech, and those who think it marks the beginning of the end for the blue bird.
But while Twitter was a unique concept when it launched back in 2006 there is now no shortage of other microblogging platforms that operate in a similar way, allowing you to post messages, pick up followers, get into virtual fights, etc.
Twitter wants you to stop screengrabbing tweets and share them instead
Twitter is taking steps to increase engagement on the platform by discouraging people from taking screenshots of tweets. iOS users are the first to be subjected to prompt to share a tweet rather than a screengrab of it.
The move makes it clear that Twitter is able to determine when users are taking screengrabs, and while many of the images will end up being shared on Twitter itself, the company would prefer that links were shared to other platforms to encourage click-throughs.
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