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Really? Is not responding at all to whitelisting requests an official
policy? If you mean you can't respond quickly, that makes sense. If
you mean you can't approve all requests, I agree. But is no response
at all a smart, polite, or even efficient way to deal with requests
from developers? It seems like a guaranteed way to create discouraged
developers. I know you try hard to be responsive, Taylor, and the fact
that you will discuss this off-list proves this. So I'm guessing this
is a policy you are just repeating. Maybe you can go back to
management and point out the flaws in this approach?
If a decision is made to deny a whitelist request, and at least a few
minutes are spent on that decision, wouldn't it make more sense to
reply with a denial? Otherwise the developer is left to repeat the
request, which must use up more time for Twitter HQ than sending a
denial in the first place. Repeated requests with no response leaves
the developer with the opinion that Twitter doesn't want a third-party
ecosystem, which clearly isn't the case. It also fills this list with
messages from annoyed developers, which doesn't send a good message to
new developers.
Why can't someone reply with "Sorry, we can't approve this request
right now due to insufficient resources, but we appreciate your
interest in Twitter development. Please try again in the future, as we
may have more resources available at that time." How many seconds
does it take to send this type of email?
--
Adam Green
Twitter API Consultant and Trainer
http://140dev.com
@140dev
Let's flip it around a minute and view this from the developer's
perspective. Every whitelist request comes from a developer who might
have a client. Do you really want developers telling clients that
"Twitter is so busy they won't even reply if I ask to build you an
app. Don't bother trying to integrate Twitter with your site. Let me
build something for you with Facebook instead."
Maybe linking to a page with an explanation like you just gave would
be better than just replying with "we can't respond to all requests."
Although the real solution is for Twitter to make the whitelisting
criteria more transparent, and reasons for rejection more clear. At a
minimum every developer who cares enough to ask to create a Twitter
app deserves a response. I believe it is possible to write code that
will do this for you.
You keep plugging away at that backlog, Taylor, and I'll keep lobbying
for more resources. I have an active interest in seeing Twitter
succeed as a developer ecosystem.
On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 1:09 PM, Taylor Singletary