Instagram has just announced 80 million users
and a new app update; Noticeably missing in the update? The “Find Your
Friends” on Twitter feature, which allowed users to follow the same
people they follow on Twitter on Instagram.
The “Tweet Photo” feature is still available.
We’ve learned that the feature is missing due to API restrictions from Twitter’s end, restrictions that possibly came about over concerns about Instagram’s scale and its strain on data pulls.
Many social apps like The Fancy and Foursquare still have access to this part of the Twitter API — it seems very likely that Instagram was the largest developer using the Twitter Friend Graph.
The decision is especially perplexing for multiple reasons having to
do with Valley politics: Twitter founder Jack Dorsey is also an investor
in Instagram and the two companies share Benchmark as an investor. One
could speculate that this is a competitive move on Twitter’s part, a
direct attack on Facebook’s social graph via limiting access to its
recent acquisition (Instagram).
Twitter’s agenda here isn’t at all clear. And selectively limiting API access by company definitely strange behavior in an ecosystem that thrives on API symbiosis. Imagine if Google just decided to shut off Google Maps access to apps randomly?
Before this, Twitter most recent move in the API wars was pulling tweets off of LinkedIn, a decision that now seems like the beginning of a slippery slope.
The “Tweet Photo” feature is still available.
We’ve learned that the feature is missing due to API restrictions from Twitter’s end, restrictions that possibly came about over concerns about Instagram’s scale and its strain on data pulls.
Many social apps like The Fancy and Foursquare still have access to this part of the Twitter API — it seems very likely that Instagram was the largest developer using the Twitter Friend Graph.
Twitter’s agenda here isn’t at all clear. And selectively limiting API access by company definitely strange behavior in an ecosystem that thrives on API symbiosis. Imagine if Google just decided to shut off Google Maps access to apps randomly?
Before this, Twitter most recent move in the API wars was pulling tweets off of LinkedIn, a decision that now seems like the beginning of a slippery slope.
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