100 Isn’t Enough
Why does the Twitter API limit the retweet_count to 100?
I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why this is so difficult. It seems like such an obvious and vital piece of information. So why, for the love of Pete, does the Twitter API return “100+” once the retweet count has reached 100? This is perhaps the most important time to continue returning accurate information.
Reporting Isn’t Optional
I have to assume that Twitter wants us developing tools which empower our clients to use Twitter in creative ways. Twitter then has to know that what our clients want more than anything is proof that their investment in these tools was worth it. Without a doubt, the most critical statistic that any one of our clients wants to know is, “How many times have we been retweeted?”.
So why is it, that of all the amazing information that Twitter makes available through its API – that this is the one that caps off at 100? I’m honestly perplexed as to what could have driven this decision.
Technical Limitation?
Is it a technical limitation? Is there something about counting a retweet over 100 times that would have put overwhelming strain on Twitters servers? I doubt it.
Business Decision?
I’m going to sound like a conspiracy theorist here – but is this some kind of brilliant business decision by the folks trying to monetize Twitter? Do they realize that this information is critical, and are they going to eventually charge us to access it? Again, I doubt it.
So What Are My Options?
Counting
I suppose I could write a script which continuously check the Streaming API and try to count all the retweets myself. Not only do I really NOT want to do this, but it is somewhat fraught with danger anyway. Unless I go to ridiculous lengths to ensure 100% uptime on the machine(s) running this script, there is a chance that retweets will be lost and my data will be incorrect.
But honestly, the main reason I don’t want to do this – is because I know the minute I do, the Twitter API will get an update which includes the expanded retweet_count information.
Third Party Service
I haven’t really done my due diligence here – but I am sure there are some third party services out there who (for an astronomical fee) can provide me this information. But here’s what is a little strange – in the limited research I DID do, the one third party service which was mentioned as a possible solution has been acquired by Twitter. [Dramatic conspiracy music here].
Ideas
Am I missing something? Is there a really obvious solution to this that I am just missing somehow? If you have any ideas – please hit me up. I’m at a bit of a loss here.
