Hey,
Welcome to the developer list. I've provided some answers to your
question in line. I hope they help.
> (1) Is Twitter API push or pull technology. The fact that it's REST
> would suggest pull, in that in order to get info from it, my client
> application needs to make a request. However, what is confusing me in
> all of this is having seen many places where the tweets are seamlessly
> "flowing in". So, how is this done? Are they submitting a request,
> getting X number of tweets and them popping them up after Y seconds in
> between each tweet and then going back and making another REST
> submission.
There are multiple APIs which maybe why you are getting confused.
These APIs are:
* REST API - which allows read and write access to Twitter
* Streaming API - which is an almost real-time (250ms) stream of
activity on Twitter
* Search API - which allows RESTful requests to Twitter Search.
Some applications will be polling for updates whilst others will be
connected to the Streaming API, waiting for updates to be sent to
them.
> (2) I was on a page that explained all of the different frequency of
> requests limits and it just sounded way too complicated. I am building
> a form of a social bookmarking application for a very specific use
> case. Can I broadcast from my single Twitter application/user-id a
> "Title" and a URL to 100's of 1,000's of daily users - without
> requiring them to have a Twitter account. I would not mind
> advertising the fact that all of this is going through Twitter, it's
> just that they are older, ethnic and not so computer savvy end users.
What you are suggesting is possible. You would need to find some way
to get that information to users, and ensure you stay within our terms
of service though. For example, avoid posting duplicates and keep
within the rate limits.
> (3) If I knew to, what else should have I asked ;?)
There is a lot of information on our Developer Resources website which
may be of use. Take a look around and see what questions arise after
reading the material:
http://dev.twitter.com
Best,
Matt Harris
Developer Advocate, Twitter
http://twitter.com/themattharris
--
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