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| Thousands of automated Twitter accounts may stop working next week |
In a tweet published today through its developer account, Twitter announced that as of February 9, it will stop providing free access to its Twitter API, as recipients of the service will have to pay a monthly subscription, the value of which has been paid. reach the screen.
The Twitter API is a service for software developers and researchers that allows developers to create browser extensions to modify and improve a website's experience, or to create Twitter bots that automatically post or reply to tweets. Academic researchers rely on the service to access public tweets for analysis and research.
Immediately after the announcement, many researchers and developers who relied on the service expressed their dissatisfaction with the idea of making it a paid service, especially since the announcement came only a week before the end of free access. They also considered the move unacceptable because Twitter did not offer them a way to monetize their software, prompting developers of some notable Twitter bots to announce that their software would no longer work.
Twitter bots are Twitter accounts with special features that allow them to interact with user responses in useful ways. Typically, bots allow any user to write a tweet mentioning the bot account, which will perform a specific task once the signal arrives. Request a specific time period, request a video download, intercept a tweet, etc. It is one of thousands of services offered by various types of bots.
Thousands of free bots are expected to stop working next week once they stop providing free access to software interfaces, observers say, which could spark a new crisis after a series of controversial changes by (Elon Musk). He bought the company last year.
It should be noted that since taking over as CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk has taken many steps to reduce costs and increase profits for the company, launching a paid service (Twitter Blue) to obtain certification marks. Employees have been terminated without notice. Twitter is said to be working on launching a new online payment service as a new source of revenue for the site, especially after many advertisers started listing their ads on Twitter.