[As I talked about][talk] a while ago, Twitter is starting to get jealous with its data and API. Just recently the gave [Instagram the shaft][inst] by shutting it out of the API which allows Instagram users to find other Twitter friends. While I can certainly see that Instagram is a heavy user of the API call, I think Twitter is stupid.

While I suppose Twitter “owns” the API the data really belongs to the users. It’s the users of Twitter that made the service so useful. If we weren’t using the service it wouldn’t be around. 

Yes that’s obvious, I just think it’s pretty cheap of Twitter to say how my data can be used. It should be my choice if I want another application to have the ability to find my other friends on Twitter.

I hope that Instagram has enough users complain to Twitter about this that Twitter actually has to start being open. It’s probably a lost hope though, I bet most users will blame Instagram for the dropped feature without looking deeper. If I was Instagram, I’d add a “complain to Twitter” button with the notice linking to a form for my users. 

[talk]: https://curtismchale.ca/2012/07/16/twitter-biting-hand-feeds/ “Twitter, biting the hand that feeds”
[inst]: http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/26/no-api-for-you-twitter-shuts-off-find-friends-feature-for-instagram/ “No API for you: Twitter shuts off find friends feature of Instagram”