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Twitter is a social networking site that was created in 2006. Users send "tweets" to let people know what they are doing. It was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams.

Twitter accused of hypocrisy over Trump tweets

Twitter is a social networking site that was created in 2006. Users send “tweets” to let people know what they are doing. It was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. Prior to building the service, they were working on a podcast directory called Odeo.

Odeo was a directory and search destination website for RSS-syndicated audio and video. It employed tools that enabled users to create, record, and share podcasts with a simple Adobe Flash-based interface.

When iTunes 4.9 was released, it ultimately made Odeo irrelevant. The people behind the company went on to create a service called Twttr. Twttr would eventually be called Twitter. iTunes 4.9, believe it or not, ultimately led to the creation of one of the most popular social networks in the world.

The major turning point for service’s popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive conference. Over the next few years, Twitter began to see rapid growth. For mobile devices, it originally relied upon third-party apps. In 2010, Twitter acquired application developer Atebits. Atebits had built the Twitter app known as Tweetie for the Mac and iPhone. It was renamed as Twitter and released for free.

Over the years, the apps have seen various revisions. There are currently versions available for iOS while desktop users must either use the web interface or a third party app like Tweetbot or Twitterrific.

Twitter API U-turn; CSAM remains on Twitter, including the easiest to detect

Site default logo image

Yesterday saw a Twitter API U-turn by the company’s owner Elon Musk, after he had said that the code powering both third-party twitter clients and automated posting bots would no longer be freely available.

Separately, a new report says that even the most common and easily-detected Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) remains on the platform after Musk vowed that removing it was his #1 priority …

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Twitter GodMode still available to all engineers, following hack of Apple and other accounts

Twitter GodMode | 'God rays over a lake'

Twitter GodMode – an internal tool that hackers used to tweet from high-profile accounts, including Apple, back in 2020 – remains available to all of the company’s engineers, according to a new report today.

Twitter had previously said that the security hole had been fixed, but a whistleblower said that aside from changing the name of the tool from GodMode to PrivilegedMode, the company had made only one change – and that still allowed any Twitter engineer to trivially gain uncontrolled access to it …

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Tapbots readies ‘Ivory’ client for Mastodon as Tweetbot era unceremoniously ends

Tweetbot discontinued refund

The dust continues to settle following Twitter’s decision to cut off third-party apps from its API. Twitter’s poorly communicated decision means that apps like Twitteriffic and Tweetbot can no longer exist. In light of that, Tapbots has published an official memorial for Tweetbot while also teasing that “a new bot will rise in its place and be greater than Tweetbot ever was.”

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Twitterrific for Mac suspended from Twitter API, like its iPhone and iPad apps following unexplained ban

Twitterrific suspended from Twitter API

Twitter has been blocking popular third-party clients from accessing the social network since last week. This has caused apps like Tweetbot, Fenix and many others to stop working out of the blue. Unfortunately, it seems that Twitter prefers to keep banning third-party apps from its platform for no reason, as now the popular Twitterrific for Mac has also been suspended from Twitter’s official API.

Update: Twitter has just confirmed that it will no longer allow developers to use the Twitter API to create third-party apps for the platform. You can read more details about this on 9to5Google.

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Twitter continues to disrespect developers with weak explanation on third-party clients not working

Twitter continues to disrespect developers with weak explanation on third-party clients not working

Both users and developers of Twitter’s third-party clients were surprised last week when many popular apps like Tweetbot stopped working out of the blue. Since then, not even Twitter or its new owner Elon Musk (who likes to talk a lot on the social network) have addressed this issue. Today, Twitter continues to disrespect developers, this time with a weak explanation of what’s going on with its API.

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Tweetbot and other Twitter apps still broken as Elon Musk stays silent

tweetbot twitter api changes

Tweetbot, Twitteriffic, and other popular third-party clients for Twitter are still completely broken due to issues with Twitter’s API. Despite growing complaints from Twitter users and developers alike, Elon Musk has remained silent. This is leading some people to speculate that this change is intentional and that Twitter is shutting down third-party clients altogether.

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Twitter forcing algorithm timeline in your face in latest iOS update

Twitter algorithm timeline For You Following

It has been a long time since Twitter started showing users tweets based on suggestions rather than chronological order, which was heavily criticized at the time. But after many complaints, the platform let users choose whether they wanted to see the chronological or algorithm-based timeline on the Twitter app by default. Unfortunately, the latest Twitter update for iOS forces users to once again see algorithmically suggested tweets by default.

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Twitter madness may end as Musk says he will abide by poll telling him to resign as CEO

Twitter madness | Musk poll on resigning

The Twitter madness continued over the weekend, as Elon Musk first banned users from linking to their profiles on other social media sites, then apologized for doing so after a deluge of objections. Twitter Support tweets announcing the policy were deleted.

Musk subsequently said that major policy decisions would be decided by Twitter polls (I promise I’m not making this up), and then posted a poll on whether he should step down as CEO, promising to abide by the result …

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Twitter bans users from linking to other social media platforms like Instagram and Mastodon

Elon Musk Twitter CEO

Update: Elon Musk says the policy will be adjusted to only forbid accounts that are primarily advertising other platforms, and casual linking will once again be permitted.

On Sunday, during the World Cup, Twitter officially banned its users from linking to their profiles on other social media sites like Mastodon, Facebook, and Instagram. Mentions of other platform handles are also now banned.

The policy means Twitter users flocking to Mastodon are no longer allowed to tell their followers to go there instead, for instance. Penalties for breaking the rules include offending tweets being deleted to entire account suspensions.

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Twitter free speech enthusiast suspends journalists, blocks Mastodon links, closes Spaces

Twitter free speech enthusiast | Newspaper on fire

Chief Twitter free speech enthusiast Elon Musk has suspended the accounts of a number of prominent journalists reporting on him, blocked links to rival social media service Mastodon, and closed the group audio feature Twitter Spaces, after facing awkward questions there.

Musk has described himself as a free speech absolutist, arguing that anyone should be allowed to say anything …

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Twitter ads may break Apple’s rules to track you; Musk’s desperation to save money

Twitter ads | CCTV camera

A proposed move by Elon Musk could see Twitter ads tracking you whether or not you want them to, a new report suggests today. This would appear to be in clear violation of Apple’s App Store rules.

A separate piece describes some of the desperate moves Musk is either taking or considering in order to save money – including breaking the law by refusing to pay severance to former employees …

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Twitter Blue relaunching on Monday with these features; Musk says character limit will increase to 4,000

Elon Musk Twitter CEO

Twitter is set to relaunch the Twitter Blue subscription service on Monday. After speculation, the company officially made the announcement this weekend. Twitter Blue will offer a handful of features at launch, including blue checkmarks for subscribers. Those users who subscribe via Twitter for iOS, however, will pay a higher price than those who subscribe via the Twitter website…

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Elon Musk says Apple is Twitter’s largest ad client; has now ‘fully resumed’ advertising on the platform

Musk mocks Apple | Aerial photo of Apple Park campus

During a Twitter Space this evening, Elon Musk confirmed that Apple has “fully resumed advertising” on Twitter. This comes less than a week after Musk publicly shamed Apple for having “mostly stopped advertising on Twitter” and questioned if the company hated “free speech in America.”

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How Tim Cook placated Elon Musk, according to three former Apple executives

Tim Cook and Elon Musk

Apple CEO Tim Cook is known for being an excellent communicator, and that was on full display this week as he navigated Elon Musk’s flurry of accusations against Apple. A new report from the Financial Times this weekend offers a deeper look at how former Apple executives view Cook’s skills, with the caveat that there’s one issue he hasn’t yet resolved…

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Banned Twitter accounts: 62K restored, only one CSAM monitor left, COVID-19 misinformation welcome

Banned Twitter accounts | Confused-looking monkey

After Musk announced that most banned Twitter accounts would be reinstated, a report says that around 62,000 accounts with more than 10K followers each have so far been restored.

Other Twitter news includes a claim that the layoffs and resignations have left the company with just one person responsible for removing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) …

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