One of the most popular bots on Twitter is @MakeItAQuote, which has more than 565,000 followers. You can reply to any tweet and tag @MakeItAQuote, and the bot will reply with the text of the tweet overlaid on an image, creating some fun results. But now, the fun may be over, as Twitter is making a change that could kill off all free bots.
twitter alone Announced that starting next week, it will “no longer support free access” to its application programming interface, the treasure trove of data that bots like @MakeItAQuote need to use to reply, search text, and produce automated tweets.
While this sounds like a good step to crack down on annoying bots or spam (and make Twitter some much-needed money), it has a very unfortunate side effect: it will stop some of the “good” bots that have been around for long time. of the fabric of Twitter.
Daniel, the 23-year-old student in Germany behind @MakeItAQuote, told BuzzFeed News that he never would have started it if there was a fee attached. “It’s a step in the wrong direction, as most API usage brings a lot of value to the platform,” he said. “And the fact that even myself, operating one of the largest bots on the platform, would have to consider turning it off is very concerning. There are many awesome and less popular bots out there. I don’t think any of them can be sustainable.”
