Broadcast Display Guidelines; "Showing unattributed data"

williamj_ · 2011-11-24T10:41:01.000Z

Hi,

I’ve been reviewing the Twitter API docs. I’ve had a good read of the API terms and the display guidelines in relation to displaying the Twitter Marks when in receipt of Twitter Content for broadcasts, I have a few questions however.

Firstly in reference to http://support.twitter.com/entries/114233:

Reference: “DONT: Delete, obscure, or alter the identification of the user. You may show Tweets in anonymous form in exceptional cases such as concerns over user security. Showing unattributed data in aggregate or visualized form is permitted, but must still include the Twitter logo. Please contact us if you have any questions.”

Query 1: In live broadcast form alongside the blue bird metaphor (and indicating it is powered by Twitter Content from the Twitter API), am I okay to only display the screen name (and not the author name), the “Tweet” message and the time of the broadcast (as utc time) due to my design constraints.

Query 2: “Unattributed data” … I would like to provide brief data logging with fields (screen name, author name, tweet message and utc time) but also want to prevent potential otherwise abuse of the software so I’m curious, it is okay for me to partially filter the screen name for later review purpose (time after broadcast) but of course, I would still honour the agreement by displaying the Twitter mark to signify the ownership of Twitter Content.

Query 3: I’ve seen many websites for Twitter but not many creative commercial software products. Whilst there is a big push for open source stuff, I would like to develop a commercial product that makes use of Twitter Content from the Twitter API.

I have not seen (any|many) software products for Twitter that need be outright purchased before use. Will the streaming API in future pipe down advert data selected by Twitter and result in developers of initially free software sharing revenue with Twitter?

williamj_ · 2011-11-25T13:45:27.000Z

well some simple queries really; silence is some what deafening in addition to rude. I conclude an API is available but “we really don’t want you to use it”.

episod · 2011-11-25T16:40:41.000Z

You’re asking during a US holiday weekend and most likely won’t get thoughtful responses to your queries until next week.

episod · 2011-12-06T15:45:54.000Z

Sorry for the tardy reply. You may want to reach out to api@twitter.com for an official opinion from someone in API policy.

Query 1: The screen name is adequate for identifying a tweet’s author. The time of broadcast in UTC is wise. I see no issues with this.

Query 2: What kind of abuse are you trying to prevent? This doesn’t sound problematic as long there’s a way to get back to the core tweet in the software – a link back to its home on twitter.com would be good.

Query 3: There’s generally not issues with this; you’ll want to be vigilant about storing your API keys or request that your end-users register their own API keys and enter them into the application. As long as the application follows all of the developer’s TOS, display guidelines, and otherwise respects users and the Twitter API (its auth model, its rate limits, its automation rules, and so on), there shouldn’t be an issue.

Last question: We haven’t formally shared publicly our plans with the advertising model in third party clients.