JAKARTA - Twitter has again littered its saliva by making the decision to provide its API behind the payment wall. This social media platform decided to provide exceptions for emergency agencies and transportation, although some of the agencies have left the platform.
Melalui akun Twitter Dev pada Selasa, 2Mei, Twitter mengumumkan bahwa 'instansi pemerintah yang verifikasi atau layanan milik publik yang membuat tweet tentang peringatan cuaca, pemuan transportasi, dan notasi dapat menggunakan API Twitter tanpa harus membayar biaya apapun.
However, it is not clear what is meant by being "verified". Does it only apply if the agency allows the creation of a new verified account, and do they have to pay to tag a check on a sub-account that may require API access?
Last month, several emergency and transportation agency accounts had problems warning the platform. Several accounts belonging to the National Weather Service (NWS) were even suspended by Twitter without explanation, while the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) also experienced interference with API access.
This problem peaked last week when MTA left bus and train notices on Twitter. MTA announced that Twitter is no longer reliable to provide consistent updates that passengers expect''. Instead, MTA encourages passengers to register for notification via SMS and email or using the mta.info site.
Responding to this change, MTA said in a tweet, "It's nice that Twitter understands our message. We are pleased that Twitter has committed to providing free API access for MTA and other public agencies. In order to clarify this decision, we will evaluate the service notification option going forward," the MTA tweet said.
Glad that Twitter got the message. We’re happy that they’ve committed to making API access free for the MTA and other public sector agencies. In light of this reversal, we’re assessing our options for service alerts going forward. https://t.co/C0srwOYh4A
— MTA (@MTA) May 2, 2023
Glad that Twitter got the message. We’re happy that they’ve committed to making API access free for the MTA and other public sector agencies. In light of this reversal, we’re assessing our options for service alerts going forward. https://t.co/C0srwOYh4A
Emergency agencies and other transportation, including NWS, the United States Geological Service, and the US Forest Service, also direct users to other ways to receive notices in real-time, but they still use the Twitter platform. BART spokesman James totaled, also said at the time that BART would continue to use Twitter while monitoring the situation closely.
In the free version of the Twitter API, users can only make 1,500 automatic tweets per month. Costs are increasing from there, with the cost of Basic for users of hobbies of 100 US dollars per month and the low-cost'' business plan can reach up to 42,000 US dollars per month. Of course, this is not ideal for many weather agencies and transportation that send some automated tweets every day to notify users of emergencies or travel delays.
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