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haidev | 3 years ago

Won't this hurt Elon in the long run? I was never able to stand the official Twitter app it's filled with ads and irrelevant clutter. I think since moving to Android Tweetbot is one of the few apps I miss from having on my phone. I was still enjoying the Mac version. I guess I will stick to Nitter [0] from now on.

[0] - https://nitter.net/

discuss

order

fencepost|3 years ago

Won't this hurt Elon in the long run?

Maybe, but compared to the rest of the damage he's done to his brand this is a relatively tiny droplet. This may drive away power users (or drive them to a Twitter-owned option?), but many of them are probably already looking at how much priority they should keep on Twitter. Twitter client issues for many may be a second place to Twitter content issues as a driving factor.

nomel|3 years ago

> filled with ads and irrelevant clutter.

I always assumed the third party clients just provided a better interface. I didn't realize they circumvented the income stream.

If the third party clients were removing the means of monetization, for a company who struggles to profit, then it seems obvious that requiring paid access on its way, regardless of the owner. Twitter can't go forever at a loss.

The "surprise" is surprising.

dragonwriter|3 years ago

> Twitter can’t go forever at a loss.

But for nonrecurring expenses, Twitter was profitable before Musk’s buyout both torpedoed ad revenue (when it was announced, before it was even completed) and saddled it with massive expenses to finance the buyout.

The acquisition is literally the only reason it is any concern how long Twitter can operate at a loss.

notwhereyouare|3 years ago

I think it's more that the API didn't return the ads to the client. If they required 3rd party clients to include the ad's in the feed and grounds for termination of the API key if they weren't that would be a different story

croes|3 years ago

Without the debt Musk put on Twitter they could at least go longer

gfodor|3 years ago

It depends. Probably imo, but this speeds up product development significantly and frees up a ton of resources in exchange for alienating a lot of users and the network effects of an API. Who knows if this kind of analysis was considered, but it’s not obviously a bad move until we see if Twitter starts doing faster product revs that pan out into growth.

seydor|3 years ago

By "app" do you mean the twitter website (because that's all i ve used). Why would one need an App to read a list that s basically full of browser links?

wvenable|3 years ago

Because the experience is better. That's the only reason anyone needs. Whether or not it's an App is immaterial.

moneywoes|3 years ago

Do you run nitter self hosted? The most popular server seems down for me

charcircuit|3 years ago

Most people don't use third party clients, so no it won't.