Twitter’s founder admits that shutting down the API was “worst thing we did”
For five years, I ran a network of Twitter accounts promoting local tech events. They were (uncreatively) called the &quot;Tech Events Network&quot; and included ATXTechEvents, DENTechEvents, NYC_TechEvents, and 50+ others that would broadcast local meetups, even supporting basically unknown tech communities like Albuquerque with ABQTechEvents. All received massive traffic, engagement (RTs &amp; likes specifically), and became an active megaphone for their respective communities.. gaining almost 300k followers.<p>More importantly, the meetups and events they tweeted saw attendance rise and more people know about them in general. It was great for everyone and I had hundreds of thank you tweets, emails, and DMs.<p>But Twitter&#x27;s repeated, bizarre, and unexplained API limitations hobbled the system more times than I can count. They&#x27;d suddenly suspend one for &quot;API abuse&quot;, I&#x27;d get it manually reviewed and they&#x27;d release it.. only to have 10 suspended the next day. I even started asking followers to tag @TwitterSupport on our behalf and zero progress.<p>After dozens of suspensions, I finally shut it all down. I haven&#x27;t come up with a theory beyond Twitter hates tech communities but that feels off..