Twitter tightens control
By Bala Shah

As the hottest microblogging platform in the world, Twitter has more than 750,000 applications working off its core system.  90 percent of all active Twitter users use the official or approved Twitter applications.  Now, Twitter has decided to clamp down on the unofficial applications and has effectively given them an ultimatum - It’s our way or the highway

Like most news items which could generate some heated debate and discussion, this particular Twitter announcement was done on a Friday when people have their attention on weekend plans.  Last Friday, March 11, Twitter Platform / API boss Ryan Sarver blogged about the new Terms of Service

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Our user research shows that consumers continue to be confused by the different ways that a fractured landscape of third-party Twitter clients display tweets and let users interact with core Twitter functions.  For example, people get confused by websites or clients that display tweets in a way that doesn’t follow our design guidelines, or when services put their own verbs on tweets instead of the ones used on Twitter.  Similarly, a number of third-party consumer clients use their own versions of suggested users, trends, and other data streams, confusing users in our network even more.  Users should be able to view, retweet, and reply to @nytimes’ tweets the same way; see the same profile information about @whitehouse; and be able to join in the discussion around the same trending topics as everyone else across Twitter.

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Twitter’s new TOS are now guided by four principles:

Don't surprise users
Don't create or distribute spam
Respect user privacy
Be a good partner to Twitter