Products related to trending topics

[mpsyp]

Hello –

I am creating products, some of which will be related to trending topics on twitter, and would like to be able to post notifications that these products are available for purchase, using any relevant hashtags. I am trying to figure out if there is a scenario where I can do this without violating the Twitter policy. A few questions:

1. If my application’s twitter account posts an advertisement of a product related to a trending hashtag using the API, is it a violation of the policy? Can I make the same posts manually without violating the policy?
2. If the users of my web/mobile application have connected their twitter accounts and they make a purchase of a product related to a trending hashtag, and they agree to send a tweet of their purchase from their own account (but automated through my application), is that a violation of the policy?
3. Is this policy applicable to trending hashtags at all levels of granularity (global, national, local)?? How do I determine if the hashtag in question would constitute a violation of the policy?

Thanks,
Marc

[yoyoel]

Thanks for the questions. While we can’t comment on specific applications, you should carefully review our rules and policies for additional information which could inform your approach. Specifically, per the Automation Rules, we prohibit the use of any form of automation to post to trending topics:

Trending topics: You may not automatically post about trending topics on Twitter, or use automation to attempt to influence or manipulate trending topics.

Note that this applies to any use of automation, including from accounts you control and accounts which authorize your application.

[mpsyp]

Hm. That’s definitely not what I was hoping to hear, and I have to say, I’m a bit surprised. A few thoughts:

1. I definitely understand how using my applications twitter handle to post to trending topics would be considered “spammy” and violate the rules – I fully expected that response.
2. That said, the intent of the general rule seems to be to primarily to prevent bot spam. Furthermore, there is no further mention or clarification of this rule in the section that address automation of users’ tweets. The idea here is not to simply sign up users and hijack their accounts to flood Twitter with spam on trending topics. The intent is to facilitate customers who purchase a product to tweet about that purchase, which happens to be related to a trending topic. So… the app would explicitly request permission to tweet using the related hashtag (that is trending), provide a preview of that tweet, and then send it for them, after explicit consent.
3. Is there a “developer relations success manager” or some official review process that can help me determine whether it is possible to craft an appropriate set of guidelines for this use case?

Thanks,
Marc

[mpsyp]

@yoyoel any thoughts on my followup?

Thanks,
Marc