Twitter is a commercial social media company relied on by many public agencies as a platform for issues/emergency notifications and general communications & marketing purposes. In light of the recent severe instability in the company and Twitter service, many public agencies are questioning the continued use of Twitter for public communications.
Recent changes at Twitter have caused this platform to be unstable and unsuitable for these uses by public agencies. The changes include:
(1) Unclear policies leading to the sudden disabling of public agencies and other organizational accounts without explanation, including DC Metro.
(2) Discontinuation of free Twitter APIs, being implemented in contrast to their own announced schedule and on a very rapid, non-industry standard timeline.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/01/twitter-to-end-free-access-to-its-api/
(3) A sudden increase in bugs affecting core Twitter features increased the unreliability of the platform for basic communications and marketing.
https://mashable.com/article/twitter-bugs-broken
Significant Twitter downsizing of 80% of its staff and lack of a stable moderation policy is raising red flags about the viability of the social media company overall and points to increased risk of instability going forward.
Twitter is relied on for regular communication of more immediate concerns to a large number of riders throughout the public transportation systems. This requires a system that maintains stable services and rules that are not subject to extended outages or surprise terminations.
We are happy to discuss alternative solutions should this be desired. We are also happy to answer any questions you have about our recommendations related to Twitter.