ReTweet.net TweetBacks and ReTweet API

While building TweetSuite and researching ReTweets, I came across a need for a service that would capture all links on Twitter and expand them from their shortened version into the full URLs. I’ve written a service to do just that and an API to allow everybody access.

This is all very alpha! Which is why I’m not releasing it publicly yet. So don’t be surprised if it goes down or there are significant changes. If you’re using it (or plan to) please leave a comment below.

ReTweet.net API Documentation

Count ReTweets

This method returns the number of times a given URL has been ReTweeted.

URL

http://api.retweet.net/count

Parameters:

• url Specify the long URL to count ReTweets for (should be URL encoded).

Response

<retweets>
	<url>http://wefollow.com</url>
	<count>281</count>
</retweets>

Example

http://api.retweet.net/count?url=http://wefollow.com

Top ReTweeted Links

This method returns the top most ReTweeted links in the last 24 hours.

URL

http://api.retweet.net/top

Parameters:

• limit The number of top links that will be returned (maximum and default:100)

Response

<top-links>
	<link>
		<rank>1</rank>
		<link>http://idefix.ws/tissa.htm</link>
		<count>580</count>
	<link>
		<rank>2</rank>
		<link>http://140mafia.com</link>
		<count>576</count>
	<link>
</top-links>

Example

http://api.retweet.net/top?limit=20

Get TweetBacks

This method pulls the most recent mentions of a specific link from Twitter and returns them for use in TweetBack implementations.

URL

http://api.retweet.net/get

Parameters:

• url Specify the long URL to find TweetBacks for (should be URL encoded).
• limit The number of TweetBacks that will be returned (maximum and default:100)

<tweetbacks>
	<url>http://wefollow.com</url>
	<tweetback>
		<author>surelightsignco</author>
		<published>2009-Aug-Wed 11:11:55</published>
		<content>added Sure Light Sign to the http://wefollow.com twitter directory</content>
		<link>http://twitter.com/surelightsignco/status/3269816050</link>
	</tweetback>
	<tweetback>
		<author>DavidLoveless</author>
		<published>2009-Aug-Wed 11:10:35</published>
		<content>added myself to the http://wefollow.com twitter directory </content>
		<link>http://twitter.com/DavidLoveless/status/3269792243</link>
	</tweetback>
</tweetbacks>

Example

http://api.retweet.net/get?url=http://wefollow.com&limit=20