Twitter ditches free access to data, potentially hindering research

News Summary

  • Third-party programs like Tweetbot—which helps users customize their feeds—have used Twitter's APIs, for example.Experts in the field say the move could harm academic research by hindering access to data used in papers that analyze behavior on social media.
  • The added cost of $100 per month might be a barrier to some of them, she said.She added that cost could also be an issue for reporters or private citizens who want to use the data for their own projects, such as data journalism.
  • Doug Johnson - Feb 10, 2023 4:49 pm UTC Twitter-owner Elon Musk has recently decided to close down free access to Twitter's application programming interface (API), which gives users access to tweet data.
  • There are few if any details released yet, but Twitter’s website shows that there are tiers of access with different tweet access limits, along with other limits on features like filtering.
  • The higher tiers cost more.While some of the higher tiers of access may provide better services to researchers (or anyone else looking to use the API), they can still create barriers.
  • The data is also used by bots that scan for other bots, like Bot Sentinel.According to Lerman, it’s unlikely that Musk decided on this change as a way to make money.
13 with 0 posters participatingTwitterowner Elon Musk has recently decided to close down free access to Twitters application programming interface (API), which gives users access to tweet data. T [+3310 chars]