The final speaker in this ICA 2024 conference session is Megan Brown, whose focus is on the impact of the closure of the Twitter API on public-interest research. The discontinuation of Twitter’s Academic API was announced in February 2023, and remaining APIs are priced exorbitantly and outside the reach of publicly-funded researchers; this has severely affected any further research on the platform.
Twitter research had been growing steadily since its inception, and was researched more than its use amongst ordinary users perhaps warranted. The present study explored the consequences of the API closure through a survey of social media scholars. Of the 168 research groups that responded to the survey, many had created specific packages, tools, and dashboards, or were gathering datasets for public use, none of which is now still sustainable.
Some 60% of all projects are now stalled, cancelled, or have pivoted to other social media platforms. Projects were cancelled especially once the new API pricing was announced, and API access cancellations commenced. Over half of Twitter researchers also cancelled projects because of their concern about being sued by Twitter and Elon Musk, who are increasingly engaged in lawfare against critical, public-interest scrutiny.
Many researchers pivoted to TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube; a shift towards Facebook and Instagram is made more difficult by the impending closure of leading data access tool CrowdTangle, and the only gradual roll-out of access to the Meta Content Library to research teams.
One effect of this API closure is the diversification of social media research, then, and this is not entirely unwelcome; however, we are still mostly researching those social media platforms where data access is possible. More holistic and cross-platform projects have always been necessary. Further work is also required on how the EU’s Digital Service Act and its provisions on research data access to Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) are working out.
