Twitter straining at every port
Published by on June 2nd, 2008
Anyone who is a user of twitter, the microblogging service, will know that in recent weeks it has been providing a less than stable and predictable service.
Like many, I use a desktop client application (Twitterific in my case) to send and receive to and from twitter. You can also have the twitter messages (tweets) sent to and received from your mobile phone via SMS. Desktop client applications (all of which are third party) access the twitter data through their API. Due to popularity outstripping its servers’ capabilities to handle the load, twitter have been limiting the number of times any remote application is permitted to access their data. This has now dropped to 30 times per hour. Twitterific - in its standard configuration - makes three calls to the API each time it updates, therefore, it can now only fully update at the most every ten minutes. The nature of twitter communications means this is weakening the value of the immediacy of the service.
The API overload could be down to:
a. They have simply not built the platform well enough, or large enough, or solid enough, to cope with anticipated demand (not the first time a tech startup underestimated server loads), or
b. they want to choke the web interface side (which generates no income for them) to “encourage” wider use of the SMS/Mobile side (which generates a little income each time SMS messages are sent). Though I hear the SMS part has had problems too recently.
Cynical perhaps, but with twitter’s second round of funding announced last month ($15 million), is there greater pressure to find a viable revenue for the service?
I’m being optimistic and keeping fingers crossed that things will get better, though patience is starting to wear thin. There are viable alternatives out there should twitter not get itself properly back on its feet.
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