Maybe it is being considered now, check this thread: http://groups.google.com/group/twitter-development-talk/browse_thread/thread/515733c625904ed8/ec71454fcac98781?lnk=gst&q=retweet#ec71454fcac98781
On Dec 22, 9:34 am, Tyson Lowery <tysonlow...@gmail.com> wrote: > The decision to leave out retweets is incomprehensible. I don't see > who it benefits to leave these out, besides maybe the programmer at > Twitter who has to do the work to include them. The API Programmers > don't like it, the confused Twitter users who no longer see Retweets > in their favorite third party services certainly don't like it > either. Leaving retweets out of the public api certainly played a > part in the general user backlash to the Retweet feature. > > On Dec 22, 12:46 am, Tim Acheson <tim.ache...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > I strongly agree with the OP. > > > Problem: Unable to get the complete timeline for a user including > > retweets (without logging in)! > > > There is an important limitation with the API regarding retweets. With > > the new retweets feature, in the current API, it is not possible to > > get a complete timeline for a user (unless you have the user's > > password). This is bad. Firstly, it means user timelines retrieved > > from the API will always be potentially incomplete, with retweets > > excluded. Yet retweets are considered part of a users timeline and > > always have been. Secondly, it means I can't retrieve my own complete > > timeline without logging in, which is surely an unnecessary extra > > step. > > > The API functionality for retweets seems inconsistent with other API > > methods, notably statuses/user_timeline which does not require a log- > > in. It's also inconsistent with the RSS feed which does include > > retweets in a users' timeline. > > > Solution: A new API method is required, to retrieve retweets for a > > user without logging in. > > > DOCUMENTATION > > > statuses/user_timeline > > Returns the 20 most recent statuses posted from the authenticating > > user. It's also possible to request another user's timeline via the id > > parameter. This is the equivalent of the Web /<user> page for your own > > user, or the profile page for a third party. > > Note: For backwards compatibility reasons, retweets are stripped out > > of the user_timeline when calling in XML or JSON (they appear with > > 'RT' in RSS and Atom). If you'd like them included, you can merge them > > in from statuses retweeted_by_me. > > >http://apiwiki.twitter.com/Twitter-REST-API-Method%3A-statuses-user_t...