Elon Musk says in a tweet that Twitter will enable light and write-only free API for bots with good content.
Recently, the social media company announced that they are planning to end free access to their API. This is supposed to be effective by Feb. 9 of the present year. Musk made some changes to this policy by saying that the feature can still be enjoyed by some.
What API for Twitter Bots Mean
API or application programming interface is a feature that allows programs to communicate with one another. Using this, businesses, developers, and individual users can create programs that connect with their products or personal content.
Meanwhile, Twitter bots are automated Twitter accounts. They can tweet, retweet, like, follow, unfollow, and direct message other users. This is to say, Twitter bots are the ones who automatically appear on your feed and tweet about weather updates or Taylor Swift lyrics via scheduled posts.
Using API, anyone can set up a Twitter bot. Users only need to have a Twitter account.
Once the bot is ready, the user just needs to decide what it's going to do.
The user can create a list of rules that the bot will follow. For example, a simple bot will tweet a link to a website every time it updates with new content.
All of these will soon change once API usage involves payment charges. This is why a lot of developers and Twitter users who create bots for different purposes are mad. Many developers about the policy also announced that they will be closing their bots ahead of the Feb. 9 deadline.
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Monetizing API
To gain more money, the company changed free access to a paid tier. After Twitter banned third-party clients, Twitter announced new developer rules to grant them back access. Clients like Tweetbot and Twitterrific will now have to sign up for a paid basic tier.
Musk said that the free API is being abused by all bot scammers and spammers. He further supports the point by saying that adding around $100 per month subscription with ID verification can clean things out.
Twitter makes the vast majority of its money from advertising. But its ad business is now being threatened by bots. This is because automation can artificially inflate both engagement and user growth levels on the app. Not only can bots like or retweet content, but they can also create fake accounts.
False growth in terms of users and engagement can make Twitter less valuable to advertisers. Businesses don't want their money to be spent on fake accounts and reach no real humans. This is why creating clearer rules and systems can help them with this problem.
Other than monetizing API, Twitter is also looking into more money-making opportunities. The company is planning to charge users to stay verified for $8 per month. They are also planning to squeeze out brands with $1,000 per month to keep their gold checkmarks on the app.
Despite Musk's assurance that the app will still allow free access to their API, people are still unsettled. No one knows what the CEO classifies as good content. Until Twitter creates a final announcement and detailed guidelines about this matter, the state of bots on Twitter remains uncertain.
Related Article: Twitter To End Free Access to Its API With New Monetization Approach
