Twitter unveils more functionality to improve customer engagements

Twitter has announced more functionality to improve customer engagements on Twitter with Account Activity API. The Account Activity API enables developers to receive the full set of activities related to an account in real time. Twitter has released the enterprise version of the Account Activity API, which is designed for those who need data for a large number of accounts, multiple webhook URLs, reliability features such as retries, or managed support. 

Twitter is also opening up an additional beta for the standard version that delivers all activities for up to 35 accounts. Starting on January 1, 2018 Twitter will also be delivering typing indicators and read receipts for Direct Messages as activities in the Account Activity API to enable the creation of more natural conversational experiences. 

In April this year, Twitter had announced the Account Activity API in beta and added new features to facilitate customer engagements in Direct Messages. 

New Direct Message features are now generally available 

In addition to enabling better ways to get data, Twitter is also taking the beta label off of many of the Direct Messages features used to create responses and more engaging experiences. Over the past year, brands like Samsung, MTV, TBS, Wendy’s and Patrón have learned how powerful these features can be to create successful personalised marketing campaigns with chatbots. Other brands like Tesco and Evernote are using these features to provide fast and simple customer service. 

Developers can now build their solutions knowing the following features are fully functional and supported:

• Quick replies
• Welcome messages
• Buttons on messages
• Custom profiles
• Customer Feedback Cards

Additionally, welcome messages are now nameable and editable. This will help businesses find and use welcome messages when creating Direct Message Cards, and keep welcome messages relevant as a campaign progresses. 

Developers can now also use read receipts and typing indicators to make the conversation feel more natural and alive. These can help people know that an agent has read their message or that a chatbot is responding, for example. 

Retiring beta and legacy services 

Some less-used features of the Direct Message beta will not become generally available and will no longer be functional from February 15, 2018. These features are:

Location quick replies and location cards

Text Input quick replies

Additionally, some of the beta customer support features, including support indicators, response hours, and the prominent message button on profiles, will no longer be shown in the Twitter app after January 2018. 

As Twitter had outlined in April, User Streams and Site Streams, along with the legacy Direct Message endpoints, will be replaced by improved products such as Account Activity API. Twitter is providing notice to all developers that on Tuesday, June 19, 2018 the following services and endpoints will be retired:

• User Streams
• Site Streams
• GET direct_messages
• GET direct_messages/sent
• GET direct_messages/show
• POST direct_messages/destroy

The Account Activity API offers a faster and more streamlined way to access data, and is more reliable and scalable than User Streams, Site Streams, or our standard REST endpoints. Developers currently using these legacy services should review the Account Activity API migration guide. 

The GET direct_message/ show, /sent, and /list endpoints are being replaced by new GET direct_messages/events/show and GET direct_messages/events/list endpoints, that combine sent and received messages into one service, and provides the ability to access all Direct Messages sent and received in the past 30 days. A new DELETE direct_messages/events/destroy endpoint, matching the new endpoint structure, is also available for deleting Direct Messages. These new endpoints allow developers to retrieve data with the same new payload elements as the Account Activity API. Developers using these services currently should review the Direct Message endpoints migration guide. 

Getting started 

Since November 2016, Twitter has been iteratively releasing new functionality to build better customer engagement experiences on its platform. Combining new features like welcome messages, quick replies, buttons on messages, and custom profiles with our existing functionality enables new and unique marketing and customer service applications to be created. 

Developers looking for beta access to the Account Activity API can apply for access through Twitter’s new developer application process. Developers who need access to subscriptions for more than 35 user subscriptions, reliability features, multiple webhook connections, or managed support should apply for enterprise level access. 

To make it easy to get started and to understand how to build on the platform, Twitter is releasing a playbook which provides step-by-step instructions and code to explain how to utilise all features of the Direct Message platform. Developers getting started, or looking to add new features to an existing experience, can learn to do so with the Building a Customer Engagement Application on Twitter playbook.