The New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has said goodbye to Twitter, announcing that it will no longer provide real-time service alerts and informative posts to commuters via the social media platform. The agency had several accounts that provided riders with useful information about train and route statuses, but it has decided to discontinue the use of Twitter because it is “no longer reliable for providing the consistent updates riders expect,” according to a statement on its website. While the MTA did not specify why it was leaving Twitter, Bloomberg reported that the company was demanding $50,000 per month for access to its API.
The move comes after Twitter discontinued its previous free API in favour of a new version with a pricing model that includes a $100-per-month tier for hobbyists and a much higher tier for enterprise customers. While Twitter has not disclosed pricing for enterprise customers, Wired previously reported that API access could cost up to $42,000 per month. Because of the pricing change, other companies and organisations, including Microsoft, have abandoned Twitter. The tech behemoth recently announced the removal of Twitter from its free social media management tool for advertisers, as well as the removal of the option to upload screenshots directly to Twitter from Xbox consoles and Game Bar on Windows.
According to Shanifah Rieara, the MTA’s acting chief customer officer, paying Twitter $50,000 per month “would not be the best use of resources” for the agency. Rieara added that the MTA has other internal and homegrown channels where riders can check for the most recent updates. Commuters are now encouraged to bookmark the agency’s official website, download the MYmta and TrainTime apps, follow the agency’s WhatsApp channel for tube and bus information and sign up for email and SMS alerts.
For the MTA, Twitter is no longer reliable for providing the consistent updates riders expect.
So as of today, we’re saying goodbye to it for service alerts and information.
But we're not saying goodbye to you, our customers! There are lots of ways to get real-time updates. ??
— MTA (@MTA) April 27, 2023
The MTA’s decision to stop using Twitter highlights the difficulties that social media platforms face in monetizing their APIs. While APIs allow third-party developers to access data and functionality on a platform, monetizing them can be difficult, and pricing models can cause friction between developers and businesses. It will be interesting to see how developers and businesses adapt as social media platforms continue to evolve and change their business models, as well as how platforms like Twitter continue to monetize their APIs.
