Twitter adds API, loses users

You’ve probably read by now that Twitter is introducing new API’s that result in third party apps (like my favourite Tweetbot) losing functionality and being charged to effectively keep their customer base using their apps.

This is another move that is slowly but surely meant to see the end of all third party apps and I for one will end up using Twitter less.

I can see that Twitter want to drive people to their own app where they can serve you ads and monitor you more effectively but they have to realise there is a core influential set of users that will stop using the service.

I have two main problems

  • I hate the official Twitter app. It's serving ads, too much visual clutter and muting is less intuitive
  • I stream my timeline. In Tweetbot I stream my timeline and pin them to the top of my screen so I can see tweets come in real-time. It's how I keep up with what's going on (that's important to me). I stopped reading mainstream news a long time ago and Twitter wants to show me as much as possible

We are a few months away before this comes into play so maybe Twitter will do something but I’m not holding my breath.

Lee Peterson @LJPUK