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Twitter blocks Instagram from using its API for friend-finding feature

Twitter blocks Instagram from using its API for friend-finding feature

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Twitter has blocked Instagram from using its API to let users find friends through the app.

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Instagram Twitter Friends Error
Instagram Twitter Friends Error

Soon after LinkedIn fell victim to Twitter's new, stricter API policies, Twitter has blocked Instagram users from finding their Twitter friends in the app. A recent Instagram update removes the "Twitter friends" feature, and attempting to use it on the current version brings up an error messages that says "Twitter no longer allows its users to access this information in Instagram via the Twitter API." The change comes as Instagram celebrates reaching 80 million accounts, double its user base in April.

Users can still post to Twitter through Instagram, but apparently the friend-finding feature did too much to "mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience." As Twitter attempts to monetize, it's increasingly allowing developers to feed content into its service but discouraging them from pulling data out. As TechCrunch points out, though, this marks a schism between two companies that were once very close — Twitter reportedly even considered buying Instagram at one point.