In the aftermath of the in Turkey and Syria, thousands of volunteer software developers have been using a crucial Twitter tool to comb the platform for calls for help B次元官网网址� including from people trapped in collapsed buildings B次元官网网址� and connect people with rescue organizations.
They as soon as Monday unless they pay Twitter a monthly fee of at least $100 B次元官网网址� prohibitive for many volunteers and nonprofits on shoestring budgets.
B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 not just for rescue efforts which unfortunately weB次元官网网址檙e coming to the end of, but for logistics planning too as people go to Twitter to broadcast their needs,B次元官网网址� said Sedat Kapanoglu, the founder of Eksi Sozluk, TurkeyB次元官网网址檚 most popular social platform, who has been advising some of the volunteers in their efforts.
Nonprofits, researchers and others need the tool, known as the API, or Application Developer Interface, to analyze Twitter data because the sheer amount of information makes it impossible for a human to go through by hand.
Kapanoglu says hundreds of B次元官网网址済ood SamaritansB次元官网网址� have been giving out their own, premium paid API access keys (Twitter already offered a paid version with more features) for use in the rescue efforts. But he says this isnB次元官网网址檛 B次元官网网址渟ustainable or the right wayB次元官网网址� to do this. It might even be against TwitterB次元官网网址檚 rules.
Monday is the deadline Twitter set for shutting off free access to its API, an added challenge for the thousands of developers in Turkey and beyond who are working around the clock to harness TwitterB次元官网网址檚 unique, open ecosystem for disaster relief.
B次元官网网址淔or Turkish coders working with Twitter API for disaster monitoring purposes, this is particularly worrying B次元官网网址� and IB次元官网网址檇 imagine it is similarly worrying for others around the world that are using Twitter data to monitor emergencies and politically contested events,B次元官网网址� said Akin Unver, a professor of international relations at Ozyegin University in Istanbul.
The new fees are just the latest complication for programmers, academics and others trying to use the AP B次元官网网址� and they say communicating with anyone at the company has become essentially impossible since Elon Musk took over.
The API paywall is MuskB次元官网网址檚 latest attempt to squeeze revenue out of Twitter, which is on the hook for about $1 billion in yearly interest payments from the billionaireB次元官网网址檚 acquisition, completed in October.
ItB次元官网网址檚 not just disaster relief groups that are concerned. Academic and non-governmental researchers for years have used Twitter to study the spread of misinformation and hate speech or research public health or how people behave online.
Rebekah Tromble, director of the Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics at George Washington University, used the Twitter API to track conversations on Twitter to see what kinds of tweets elicited attacks from trolls B次元官网网址� and what got them to go away B次元官网网址� in one study.
B次元官网网址淲ith so little information from Twitter about the practicalities of this new policy, the specifics of it, we just donB次元官网网址檛 know where to go. We have no way to do the planning. And for many of us who are in the field, running programs, running projects that have real world consequences, thatB次元官网网址檚 pretty scary,B次元官网网址� she said.
Twitter wasnB次元官网网址檛 alone but was unique among social media companies in making its API open and free. TikTok, for instance, is working on it now but so far has not released its API. FacebookB次元官网网址檚 is more limited because it is very protective of the data it collects.
Tromble said social platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and others are taking steps to increase researcher access and transparency B次元官网网址� largely due to new European regulations. Twitter, on the other hand, is moving in the opposite direction.
B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檝e gone from in a first in class to absolute dead last,B次元官网网址� she said.
It costs money to maintain an API. As a private company, Twitter is free to charge for its tools. But researchers and developers say it wouldnB次元官网网址檛 take much for Musk to carve out exceptions for academic research and nonprofits.
B次元官网网址淣o other technology has changed society as quickly and as profoundly as social media. Having access to the thoughts and emotions of other people worldwide, thatB次元官网网址檚 a fundamental change to society,B次元官网网址� said Kristina Lerman, a computer science professor at the University of Southern California who studies misinformation. B次元官网网址淎nd you canB次元官网网址檛 understand it without access to data, access to observe.B次元官网网址�
Takeshi Kawamoto, a Japanese software developer who runs a with more than 3 million followers, created the account back in 2007 as a hobby.
There are an incredible number of such bots on Twitter B次元官网网址� useful, friendly or quirky accounts set up by people or group with a specific interest. There are weather bots, tools that combine long Twitter threads into one easy-to-read file, bots that send quotes from famous books or people, bots that remind you to stand up and stretch at random intervals during the day, bots that insert a little bit of nonsense and weirdness into your Twitter scrolling.
The earthquake bot Kawamoto created didnB次元官网网址檛 take off until the , tsunami and nuclear disaster that hit Japan, when people turned to it for information about quakes and aftershocks.
Kawamoto was ready to shut down the bot when Twitter first announced it was going to charge for API access. Paying $1,200 a year for an account that is decidedly not making a profit was not going to be possible. Last week, Twitter announced that it would make a small exception to offer B次元官网网址渨rite-onlyB次元官网网址� API access for free to accounts that send less than 1,500 tweets a month.
This might help, but Kawamoto says the 1,500 limit will present a problem after a big earthquake with a lot of aftershocks. He would like to ask Musk to allow accounts to post more than 1,500 tweets on a pay-as-you-go basis.
So far, Twitter has offered no other exceptions, although itB次元官网网址檚 possible that Musk will see one of the many tweets from developers working on earthquake relief who have been pleading for a solution.
For Mark Sample and his small army of Twitter bots, such as one that would send carefully curated quotes from Herman MelvilleB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淢oby DickB次元官网网址� at random intervals, itB次元官网网址檚 too late. The Moby Dick bot, as well as one that sent out computer clip art from 1994 and one called B次元官网网址渨eird satelliteB次元官网网址� have all left Twitter. Some have moved to Mastodon, the social platform that some discouraged Twitter users have been migrating to.
SampleB次元官网网址檚 bots were part of B次元官网网址渨eird Twitter,B次元官网网址� a quirky subculture of Twitter that peaked in the mid-2010s and included strange, fun, nonsensical bots sending bursts of randomness into peopleB次元官网网址檚 feeds.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 kind of going through a mourning process, kind of grieving. The APIB次元官网网址witter was doing something that none of the other social media platforms did, which is kind of like having this open playground,B次元官网网址� said Sample, a professor of digital studies at Davidson College in North Carolina. B次元官网网址淚 mean, there were ways that people could take advantage of it and and distort things and and use it and malevolent ways. But it was also this terrific playground for hobbyists and creative people. None of the other social media platforms had that. In some way in the API when the only thing Twitter had going for it, the only thing that really set it apart.B次元官网网址�
For Sample, the breaking point was not the API announcement. It came last fall when Musk began and going after journalists who questioned or criticized him, he said. Building apps for a platform when someone just shut it all down on a whim, he said, is B次元官网网址渘ot a good use of our time and creative energy.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 mean, it had a good run. ItB次元官网网址檚 like 15 years or whatever. So itB次元官网网址檚 a pretty good run. And maybe itB次元官网网址檚 time for something else.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擝arbara Ortutay, The Associated Press
