Elon Musk's Latest Twitter Change Could Kill Many Iconic Bot Accounts
Twitter's application programming interface (API) is set to become a premium feature. The API software essentially allows computer programmes to interact with each other
A new change on Twitter is endangering all the fun on the platform! When Elon Musk bought Twitter last year, he openly spoke about how he wants to turn the company into a profitable venture. Not much later, we saw Twitter's focus shift to paid features through Twitter Blue, a subscription service through which users can get a verified tag and more.
Now, Twitter's application programming interface (API) is also set to become a premium feature.
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Goodbye, free API access on Twitter!
The API software essentially allows computer programmes to interact with each other.
If you love bot accounts on Twitter (not the spam kind), this might mark the death knell for many of them, including the new bots that emerged after ChatGPT went public. Such automated bots are able to Tweet autonomously owing to API.
Over the years, hundreds of millions of people have sent over a trillion Tweets, with billions more every week.
¡ª Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) February 2, 2023
But on Thursday, Twitter announced that it would "no longer support free access to the Twitter API" starting February 9. This will be a bummer for many automated accounts like Emoji Mashup Bot, Progress Bar, ResNeXtGuesser, and more.
Hi All, I regret to announce you all that this bot will stop working on 9th of February (Next week) due to new Twitter's API policy. I have no intention on paying Twitter for basic API usage.
¡ª Possum Every Hour (Please See Pinned Tweet) (@PossumEveryHour) February 2, 2023
You can continue to follow the bot on Mastodon:https://t.co/tGsVdbTKyu
It's been fun https://t.co/bNwJ4eqLjG
Also read: Elon Musk¡¯s Twitter Getting Ready To Apply For License To Enter Payment Business In The US
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"Twitter data are among the world¡¯s most powerful data sets. We¡¯re committed to enabling fast & comprehensive access so you can continue to build with us," TwitterDev wrote.
Twitter data are among the world¡¯s most powerful data sets. We¡¯re committed to enabling fast & comprehensive access so you can continue to build with us.
¡ª Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) February 2, 2023
We¡¯ll be back with more details on what you can expect next week.
Unfortunately, this means that automated accounts will stop working this month unless their owners start paying for Twitter API.
Also read: Elon Musk's 'Lies' About Taking Tesla Private Cost Investors Millions, Lawsuit Alleges
According to Indy100, basic Twitter API that is free to use will allow for 250 requests per month. The premium version of Twitter API would cost between $149-2,499 (Rs. 12,251-2,05,485) depending on the number of requests made by a user.
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What are some of your favourite automated bot accounts on Twitter? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.
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