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Why Twitter's database restrictions hurt academic research

Why Twitter's database restrictions hurt academic research

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Twitter API fence
Twitter API fence

Twitter may let users download archives of their own tweets, but the social network's strict rate-limiting and limited APIs make it tough for researchers to access the vast amount of data behind the service's billions of tweets. BuzzFeed recently took a look at how a number of research groups and organizations, including the Library of Congress, have been forced to work around Twitter's restrictions or wait for the service to open up its doors, at least in the name of academia. Head to the source to see how researchers hoping to get into Twitter's databases are being kept arm's length, and how even the United States government is having a hard time getting through.