Because Twitter’s shutdown of Politwoops comes three years after its launch, Twitter’s explanation doesn’t quite add up

Alex Kantrowitz writes that Twitter’s explanation for shutting down Politwoops would be “unremarkable” if it came in spring 2012 when Politwoops launched. Twitter requires its API partners to “respect the decisions its users make on Twitter proper,” Kantrowitz writes, meaning that if a Twitter user deletes a tweet, Twitter’s API partners must as well. Instead the shutdown comes three years later, a confusing decision that Kantrowitz says may be a way for Twitter to save face: “Though that may be a win for Twitter’s platform team, which would presumably want politicians to feel comfortable on the service and confident that they can control their image on it, it’s likely a loss for everyone else.”

+ Alex Howard: The shutdown of Politwoops follows the need of politicians, not the needs of the public (Huffington Post)

The post Because Twitter’s shutdown of Politwoops comes three years after its launch, Twitter’s explanation doesn’t quite add up appeared first on American Press Institute.

from American Press Institute http://ift.tt/1JxVfRJ