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0 pointsEdwardDiego3y ago0 comments

Given that Twitter already offered premium API access, they've got billing in place, so now they add a new form that, once your credit card is verified, flicks a boolean on an account that was previously flicked by another process.

It might not be small, but it's not exactly huge.

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afavour3y ago

It’s more than that. For one it’s not an existing boolean, there are now two different kinds of blue tick that are presumably stored separately. Blue is also supposed to give the user fewer ads (while making them more relevant) as well as additional weight in feed ranking algorithms. It’s also intended to be offered worldwide which adds a lot of complication to things like payment flows.

I’m not saying it’s going to bring the site down tomorrow but that one feature touches on a lot of services.

EdwardDiegoOP3y ago

I imagine their premium API was also available worldwide.

Okay, so two booleans, and checks of those booleans in a couple of algorithms.

This still isn't a huge change, it's not completely new functionality. Once again, not saying it's small, but it definitely isn't huge.

afavour3y ago

Clearly worldwide payments is an issue otherwise they’d have rolled it out worldwide day one, and they didn’t. There must be something holding that back.

Plus I really don’t think you can compare B2B payments for premium API access to end user payments. Not least because they aren’t going to be going the same route: a huge number of them will be via Apple or Google in-app purchasing. Ask anyone who works with those systems, it isn’t a quick plug and play job.

In general though, a new subscription tier, feed algorithm changes, UI changes… if these aren’t, what is a big change in your book?

fomine33y ago

Blue is paid by in app purchase that seems to haven't implemented until that. Its functionality is far from premium API access.

EdwardDiegoOP3y ago

As I said, a new form.

They already had billing integration, even if you're accessing it via a new route, and they already had a boolean on your account.

Like I said, not small, but not exactly huge either.

sundvor3y ago

Except there was a crapload of social engineering testing around this feature that was just skipped altogether.

Suddenly that simple change had the potential for catastrophic consequences.

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afavour3y ago

I’m not saying it’s going to bring the site down tomorrow but that one feature touches on a lot of services.

EdwardDiegoOP3y ago

I imagine their premium API was also available worldwide.

Okay, so two booleans, and checks of those booleans in a couple of algorithms.

This still isn't a huge change, it's not completely new functionality. Once again, not saying it's small, but it definitely isn't huge.

afavour3y ago

Clearly worldwide payments is an issue otherwise they’d have rolled it out worldwide day one, and they didn’t. There must be something holding that back.

In general though, a new subscription tier, feed algorithm changes, UI changes… if these aren’t, what is a big change in your book?

fomine33y ago

Blue is paid by in app purchase that seems to haven't implemented until that. Its functionality is far from premium API access.

EdwardDiegoOP3y ago

As I said, a new form.

They already had billing integration, even if you're accessing it via a new route, and they already had a boolean on your account.

Like I said, not small, but not exactly huge either.

sundvor3y ago

Except there was a crapload of social engineering testing around this feature that was just skipped altogether.

Suddenly that simple change had the potential for catastrophic consequences.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse