Twitter cuts off API access to Movetodon, a useful tool for finding and following one's Twitter followers on Mastodon; it's unclear if the tool broke any rule
from the trying-to-lock-the-barn-doors dept — People keep claiming that Mastodon isn't scaring Elon Musk …
Movetodon users lose a practical way to identify and follow their existing Twitter contacts on Mastodon, increasing the friction of moving their social graph.
Twitter removes a third-party API use case that connected its user base to Mastodon, without a stated rule violation in the supplied coverage.
Second-order effects
Developers relying on Twitter's API face a less predictable operating environment as Movetodon's cutoff reinforces the risk already associated with the end of free access.
Mastodon gains fewer easily transferable Twitter connections, so its communities must rely more on manual discovery rather than migration tools.
Third-order effects
Repeated restrictions on Mastodon links, accounts, and migration-oriented API tools point toward Twitter treating interoperability as a competitive control point rather than a neutral developer function.
The pattern strengthens the basis for the regulatory concerns previously raised over Twitter's Mastodon link blocking, especially if access restrictions continue to target rival-network connections.
The trend: Twitter's API and account controls are becoming instruments for governing interoperability with rival social networks.
So you may have noticed that the Twitter login of https://movetodon.org/ is not working at the moment. — According to twitter, the app “has violated Twitter Rules and policies”. …
I wrote up something quick on Musk shutting down Movetodon... and also why people should set up a Mastodon account soon before Musk shuts off other similar tools. Feel free to share it to friends still sticking to the bird site. https://www.techdirt.com/...
So it would appear Mr Musk is rather concerned about the number of people leaving for #Mastodon as part of the #TwitterMigration ... https://twitter.com/...
If you were going to use https://movetodon.org/ to find those you follow here over at #Mastodon, looks like Twitter has cut off the API early according to it's creator. https://mastodon.social/... So instead of next week, Twitter seems to be cutting off API access now w/o notice.…
This affects much more than silly bots that make people's day (though it will be sad to see those go too)! This change affects bot alert Twitter profiles that function for many as *critical infrastructure* — we're talking earthquake alerts, severe weather alerts, tornado alerts. …
First Twitter let spammers pay $8 to boost content, now it's killing organic bots & moving to commercial bots only. It's all just worse ads. People used to complain a Twitter product team that didn't tweet much, but one that's broadcast-only to 100M+ people seems much worse. http…
if you want to get a sense of some of the impact of this change, just look at the quote tweets 💔 [screenshots of bot accounts announcing they will go dark]
We asked some of the good bots on here - @oliviataters, @BklynMuseumBot, @ca_dmv_bot, @_restaurant_bot, @MakeItAQuote if they would pay for API access to keep running their bots. (They all said no) https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...