[Air-L] Twitter academic API still collects data

Stuart Shulman stuart.shulman at gmail.com
Mon Feb 13 14:41:49 PST 2023


The messaging and implementation is quite ambiguous. I started a new API
fetch 40 minutes ago and have 11,000 Tweets and counting, which is more
than the free Search API is supposed to give according to published rate
limits. Meanwhile our elevated developer API access for a new product
release simply vanished from the developer console. I am looking for rhyme
or reason to any of it, which may be a mistake. The good news is that if
you have historical Twitter JSON, those archival collections remain really
important, just like old newspaper collections and clippings are to
journalism history scholars. You can upload, store, search, and code them
collaboratively in DiscoverText, which is free for all academia. It might
be time to start a central repository of Twitter datasets as a part of the
emerging collective response.

On Mon, Feb 13, 2023 at 2:33 PM Tromble, Rebekah <rtromble at email.gwu.edu>
wrote:

> A number of affected researchers were at Social Science FOO Camp this
> weekend, and it was pretty clear that Twitter's rollout of the new policy
> is proving uneven and chaotic. (Shocking, I know.) Many had received the
> notice of termination; many had not. Some people's collectors had already
> shut down as of Friday, despite the supposed extension. But most were still
> up and running.
>
> The one silver lining, I suppose, is that the inconsistencies and delays
> do provide an opportunity for extending mutual aid to impacted researchers,
> and the Coalition for Independent Technology Research is continuing our
> efforts in that regard. If you haven't already looked into the mutual aid
> campaign, you can request or offer support using this intake form
> <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfd31H3gWA_vv1tjfecxB9OKViOgQVuayF3vOQv6SNPvYqLuw/viewform>.
> There's no obligation to join the Coalition or even to sign on to our
> public letter. But we're of course happy if you want to do so! This moment
> is truly underscoring how important collective action and support are--and
> will continue to be--among the research community.
>
> Rebekah
>
> Dr. Rebekah Tromble
> Director, Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics, George Washington
> University |
> Associate Professor, School of Media & Public Affairs, George Washington
> University |
> Visiting Researcher, The Alan Turing Institute (London) |
> www.rebekahtromble.net
> iddp.gwu.edu
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 13, 2023 at 2:14 PM Deena Abul-Fottouh via Air-L <
> air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
>
>>    I have an academic API and did not receive any similar email. Do you
>>    think this is an indication that the new policy will not apply to
>>    academic API? Did anyone with an academic API receive such an email?
>>
>>    Best,
>>
>>    Deena
>>
>>    ____________________________
>>
>>    Deena Abul-Fottouh, PhD.
>>
>>    Postdoctoral Research Fellow
>>
>>    Digital Society Lab
>>
>>    Political Science Department
>>
>>    Phone icon t​ phone: [1](905) 525-9140
>>    Envelope icon email: [2]abulfodm at mcmaster.ca
>>
>>    McMaster University
>>
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>>      __________________________________________________________________
>>
>>    From: Air-L <air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org> on behalf of Stuart
>>    Shulman via Air-L <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
>>    Sent: February 13, 2023 1:26 PM
>>    To: Shulman, Stu <stu at texifter.com>
>>    Cc: air-l at listserv.aoir.org <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
>>    Subject: Re: [Air-L] Twitter academic API still collects data
>>
>>    It seems like the Twitter Search API is still serving free data as of
>>    the
>>    last few hours. Is anyone seeing or hearing anything different? The
>>    email
>>    to developers said all the free APIs, including the academic API, and
>>    the
>>    elevated access developer API, were going to be shut down today and
>>    replaced with the new thing (TBD). I suppose it is still morning in
>>    California but we are still waiting for the unveiling of the new terms
>>    for
>>    the new thing, which sounds like it may be a $100/month credential
>>    that users purchase and then deploy to access or deliver data from or
>>    to
>>    Twitter. There is an ineluctable complexity to what is about to happen
>>    on
>>    the level of platform technology. I am guessing there is no simple "off
>>    switch" granular enough yet. Maybe later today a lot of systems will go
>>    dark. Or...[?]
>>    On Fri, Feb 10, 2023 at 12:33 PM Shulman, Stu via Air-L <
>>    air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
>>    > The API changes were delayed until after the Super Bowl. There is a
>>    > somewhat rational actor somewhere in the SpaceX dust and fumes. I
>>    still
>>    > have no clear picture if the Academic API is slated to be degraded.
>>    Does
>>    > anyone? The free Search API is operating normally as of this moment.
>>    The
>>    > pushback has been impressive. Taking the long view, I think the rush
>>    to
>>    > look beyond Twitter without a clear picture of what is happening or
>>    why is
>>    > premature. No matter what the new policy is, studying the impact of
>>    > Twitter, even if you need a grant to do it, will remain important
>>    until the
>>    > system goes offline or social movements cease to use it, or elections
>>    no
>>    > longer hinge on whether accounts can Tweet and delete and Tweet using
>>    > automation to sway algorithmic rankings, etc. We all have examples of
>>    > strange things happening on Twitter that seem to matter. We have a
>>    duty to
>>    > study it, even if there are charges that are likely analogous to the
>>    cost
>>    > of interviews, field work, focus groups, surveys, and other
>>    traditional
>>    > $-first results later research.
>>    >
>>    > On Fri, Feb 10, 2023 at 12:02 PM Yiran Duan via Air-L <
>>    > air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
>>    >
>>    > > Hi all,
>>    > >
>>    > > Magically, Twitter academic API is still collecting tweets for me
>>    as of
>>    > > today. Is it the same case for you all?
>>    > >
>>    > > Best,
>>    > > Yiran Duan
>>    > > PhD student
>>    > > Syracuse University
>>    > > _______________________________________________
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>>    >
>>    >
>>    > --
>>    > Dr. Stuart W. Shulman
>>    > Founder and CEO, Texifter
>>    > Editor Emeritus, *Journal of Information Technology & Politics*
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>> References
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