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Is there a way to download a backup of all of my own tweets, in case Twitter ever goes down for good?

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8  
Note: Current twitter API limits you fetch the latest 3200 updates only, so if you have greater than 3200 updates, I doubt the services will be able to backup them. – Sathya♦ Jul 1 '10 at 12:50
   
@Sathya -- not true. You're right that you can't get more than that easily, but I know for a fact that backupmytweets.com specifically does backup 100% of your tweets, which is actually another reason to use one of these services in the first place. – Jason Cohen Jul 8 '10 at 15:50
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Not according to their FAQ, Jason: backupmy.net/faq They can only back up the most recent 3,200 tweets. – Guillermo Esteves Oct 10 '10 at 4:15
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Obviously, the API only gives you access to the most recent 3200 tweets. But every tweet after you enabled the backup service, will backup the latest 3200 plus the ones you already have saved. Ie. more than 3200. – Claus Jørgensen May 7 '12 at 18:11
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So the answer is, start backing up as soon at you start tweeting, or at least before you have > 3200 tweets. Then EVERYTHING will be backed up. – Chase Florell May 7 '12 at 18:15

7 Answers

up vote 0 down vote

You can also use SocialSafe to backup the content of your Twitter account. Again, it is restricted by the API limit of the most recent 3,200 tweets when you start backing up, but as others have said, the sooner the start backing up the less you'll miss. All of the content is stored on your own PC/Mac, so you aren't sharing your data with anyone.

SocialSafe backs up the following:

  • Tweets
  • Mentions
  • DMs
  • Favourites
  • Followers
  • Following
  • Profile information

There is a free trial available that allows you full usage of SocialSafe, which also includes the capability of exporting to CSV. You can download the PC/Mac installer from the SocialSafe website.

Hope this helps.

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up vote 1 down vote

Twitter is starting to roll out the ability for anyone to request an archive of all of their tweets.

Apparently it works similarly to Facebook's archive option. If the option is turned on for you, you'll see a link for "Your Twitter Archive" in Twitter Settings. Once you've made the request, and after some amount of time, an email message with a ZIP file of your Twitter messages will arrive in your inbox.

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up vote 0 down vote

You can export retweets, favorites, etc. using Timeline Tweets. You can also create a link to share in other social networks.

  • New: Export Retweets
  • Tweets you have retweeted
  • Your tweets retweeted
  • Favorites by you
  • Twitter Mentions
  • More
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up vote -1 down vote

You can subscribe to the RSS feed of your Twitter timeline (https://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/<username>.rss) in Google Reader to start archiving your future tweets.

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Twitter have deprecated RSS feeds; this no longer works. (For example: twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/Support.rss ) – Al Everett Mar 26 at 12:38
As with all web apps, there will be changes. This solution worked at the time it was posted. Google Reader will be dead in a few months (July 2013). – mvark Mar 26 at 12:59
Yes, I understand that. But a large part of Stack Exchange's raison d'être is to help future readers. This answer won't be helpful at all, now. – Al Everett Mar 26 at 13:03
up vote 3 down vote

Zach Drayer (@zadr on Twitter) suggested filing a FOIA with the Library of Congress, if you're in the US. Haven't tried it, though.

If I were to file a FOIA request with the Library of Congress, would I be able to get an archive of all my tweets? Cant get it from Twitter…

Source: https://twitter.com/zadr/status/199570827308580866

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up vote 8 down vote

If you live in the EU, you can request ALL your tweets that Twitter holds on you.

Visit this link:

http://monsterswell.com/blog/2012/04/a-full-twitter-index-in-your-thinkup/

Follow these instructions (and you will need a Fax Machine):

https://www.privacyinternational.org/blog/what-does-twitter-know-about-its-users-nologs

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or faxzero.com or another "free internet fax" services – Lao Tzu Sep 25 '12 at 19:47

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