Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has announced that Twitter API will be free to access for bots with good content. The billionaire in a tweet said that Twitter will enable a light, write-only API for bots providing good content that is free. This comes a week after Musk announced to put Twitter API behind paywall.
After shutting Twitter third party clients like Twitterriffic and Tweetbot, Twitter last week announced that its free API access will go behind paywall starting February 9. Musk said that the free API tool is being abused by fake bots and scammers and that a nearly $100 per month subscription “with ID verification” will help “clean things up greatly.”
“Responding to feedback, Twitter will enable a light, write-only API for bots providing good content that is free,” reads Musk’s tweet.
Musk’s latest announcement to allow free Twitter API access to good bots remains unclear in many ways. Firstly, there’s no clarity on what is good content. Second how much of the API will be free. There’s also no information on if this will apply to the existing bots or also on the future bots.
Twitter third-party clients were shut down without any prior information affecting thousands of developers. Twitter later announced that it was enforcing its long-standing API rules resulting in many apps not working. The announcement sparked discussions amidst developers with few coming forward to say that there were never told about such API rules.
Twitter’s decision to charge developers for API access can prove to be a great medium for revenue generation- first thing on Musk’s mind since he took over the company.
The company, in a tweet thread tried to explain the paid tier system that it plans to bring for the developers.
“Over the years, hundreds of millions of people have sent over a trillion Tweets, with billions more every week,” says the company adding that “Twitter data are among the world’s most powerful data sets” and the company is “committed to enabling fast & comprehensive access.”
Twitter API provides a platform to developers wherein they can integrate Twitter’s functionality int their own apps. The developers use the Twitter API for various purposes like some use it for entertainment purposes while some offer useful functions like an organised thread layout, aching larger user base and more.
ALSO READ l Twitter officially bans Tweetbot, Twitterrific, other third-party clients: What it means for users