Wait so Twitter allows corporations to access and search public tweets, which are published by people so that they can be seen publicly? Oh the humanity!
Next thing we'll learn some company is indexing public websites and allows people to search in those too!
It's interesting how we call Facebook's data either public or private depending on how we want to regulate it. If we're worried about user data privacy, it's private data that CA stole. If we're worried about racial tensions in Sri Lanka its a public forum that needs to be moderated.
Not that it's wrong, but Facebook seems to exist in this grey zone of semi-private content which gives it both sorts of challenges and none of the usual defences.
For how much time? When you consider youporn sends ping to twitter throught a weird domain (with a cookie on https://syndication.twitter.com/), it makes me wondering how much time it will takes before the porn life of everyone on twitter will be reveal.
I don't want to be the alarmist but it's not like twitter has a good track record when it comes to database leak and god knows how many influent politics are using it ...
This title is misleading. By saying “Twitter also sold data access...” it implies that Facebook sold him data access. This of course is not the case. Facebook didn’t sell him anything, he produced an app and abused the platform.
Twitter also gives away their data to anyone that wants it for free. You can be streaming millions of tweets per day within minutes of creating an account.
That used to be the case, sure. But AFAIK these days you won't get access to the firehose without full authorization from Twitter (and there's a price tag involved).
> Twitter also gives away their data to anyone that wants it for free. You can be streaming millions of tweets per day within minutes of creating an account.
That's news to me. I maintain the Twitter client library for Go[0], and I still haven't been able to get through the process for getting access to the new streaming API (for testing the library). It requires an application stating your intended purpose and usage. I applied explaining the situation and was rejected (with a request to provide more information - I still have to resubmit that, but it's time and I just haven't gotten around to that yet).
It's possible to stream millions of tweets per day, but good luck trying to do it "within minutes of creating an account". And it's definitely not free.
For full context: I'm already a verified user on Twitter (ie, "blue check mark") and was clear in my application that I was requesting access so I could develop and test the library that other users of the Twitter API develop with. I'm not exactly complaining that they didn't approve the request initially, but if that's not sufficient to get access, it's pretty clear that they're not "giving away their data to anyone that wants it for free".
"The ethics panel member added: "Facebook is rather deceptive on this and creates the appearance of a cosy and confidential peer group environment, as a means of gulling users into disclosing private information that they then sell to advertisers, but this doesn't make it right to an ethical researcher to follow their lead.""
A bot of a tangent, but a year ago I loved Twitter and found it engaging. I tweeted mildly interesting comments and sometimes mildly amusing anecdotes.
Then the algorithms took hold. Now most of what I tweet goes totally unnoticed. Now perhaps I am more boring now (even though I have a lot more folowers), but it doesn't seem to be the case, I think I was just as inane before.
On the other hand, if I get maybe four or five friends to retweet me, all of a sudden I have exposure and I get read, liked and retweeted a lot. This has just pushed Twitter more into the hands of bots. If I had a bot army of maybe 10 bots I would get a fair bit of exposure.
There is also a momentum thing, if I take a couple of weeks off Twitter it doesn't love me any more when I come back.
I am pretty sure you can disable the algorithmic feed in the settings. It's under "Show the best Tweets first" checkbox in the "Account" page of the Settings.
At least I thought carefully about what I tweeted since I knew it would be public. I'm much more upset that private Facebook data, never intended to be distributed to the public, was taken from me.
Sorry I don't understand the severe downvote? I was referring to all the "under the table" things that happened with Cambridge Analytica and similar stories, that will surface in the next few weeks/months. Hence the crumbing house of cards...
Now is the moment. The moment where you eat your tie/ hat/whatever. Yes, you, who blindly defended Twitter that "did no harm" and "Twitter is not like FB".
Come on people, company that hosts insanely large free webservice 24/7 for years doesn't sell user data to the highest bidder? Do you even believe it?
[+] [-] testplzignore|7 years ago|reply
http://support.gnip.com/apis/
https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/tweets/batch-historica... (new doc for Gnip API)
https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/tweets/search/overview... (new doc for Gnip API)
[+] [-] smsm42|7 years ago|reply
Next thing we'll learn some company is indexing public websites and allows people to search in those too!
[+] [-] stingraycharles|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Talyen42|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Eridrus|7 years ago|reply
Not that it's wrong, but Facebook seems to exist in this grey zone of semi-private content which gives it both sorts of challenges and none of the usual defences.
[+] [-] imglorp|7 years ago|reply
This means they keep track of who you follow and what you click on.
[+] [-] mickael-kerjean|7 years ago|reply
I don't want to be the alarmist but it's not like twitter has a good track record when it comes to database leak and god knows how many influent politics are using it ...
[+] [-] unknown|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] downandout|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TheForumTroll|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dumbfounder|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mindcrash|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chimeracoder|7 years ago|reply
That's news to me. I maintain the Twitter client library for Go[0], and I still haven't been able to get through the process for getting access to the new streaming API (for testing the library). It requires an application stating your intended purpose and usage. I applied explaining the situation and was rejected (with a request to provide more information - I still have to resubmit that, but it's time and I just haven't gotten around to that yet).
It's possible to stream millions of tweets per day, but good luck trying to do it "within minutes of creating an account". And it's definitely not free.
For full context: I'm already a verified user on Twitter (ie, "blue check mark") and was clear in my application that I was requesting access so I could develop and test the library that other users of the Twitter API develop with. I'm not exactly complaining that they didn't approve the request initially, but if that's not sufficient to get access, it's pretty clear that they're not "giving away their data to anyone that wants it for free".
[0] https://github.com/ChimeraCoder/anaconda
[+] [-] xevb3k|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ryanmccullagh|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] textmode|7 years ago|reply
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/24/cambridge...
The article discusses the Cambridge University ethics committee rejection of proposal for use of Facebook app to gather data.
Anyone have a non-scribd link to the full comments from the ethics committee members?
When the Facebook CTO recently testified before the UK Parliament, at one point they laughed at him for being so blatently insincere.
Facebook is now copying Reddit/HN up/downvotes, trial in NZ/AUS.
[+] [-] jimnotgym|7 years ago|reply
Then the algorithms took hold. Now most of what I tweet goes totally unnoticed. Now perhaps I am more boring now (even though I have a lot more folowers), but it doesn't seem to be the case, I think I was just as inane before.
On the other hand, if I get maybe four or five friends to retweet me, all of a sudden I have exposure and I get read, liked and retweeted a lot. This has just pushed Twitter more into the hands of bots. If I had a bot army of maybe 10 bots I would get a fair bit of exposure.
There is also a momentum thing, if I take a couple of weeks off Twitter it doesn't love me any more when I come back.
This has ruined Twitter for me.
[+] [-] weka|7 years ago|reply
Having them clog up my twitter timeline of people I don't _even_ follow with their tweets or the LIKES of people I do.
They distorted what a timeline was and thus the follow button essentially became ruined.
[+] [-] munchor|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] listentojohan|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dymk|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] greggarious|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kyleblarson|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fusiongyro|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stochastic_monk|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fiatjaf|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ComodoHacker|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blklivesmatter|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] anoncoward778|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AzzieElbab|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] viyu|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] viyu|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Yizahi|7 years ago|reply
Come on people, company that hosts insanely large free webservice 24/7 for years doesn't sell user data to the highest bidder? Do you even believe it?