Twitter has confirmed the removal of its follow graph data from Instagram, disabling the "Find Twitter Friends" feature in the photo app. Users can still find people from their phone's contact list and Facebook friends list.
"We understand that there's great value associated with Twitter's follow graph data, and we can confirm that it is no longer available within Instagram," Twitter spokeswoman Carolyn Penner told Mashable.
On Thursday, Instagram users began noticing a pop-up message (see above), which says the app is unable to find users’ Twitter contacts because of API tweaks on Twitter's end. However, the feature appears to still work for some users.
This is Twitter's second high-profile parting of the ways within a month. In late June, Twitter cut ties with LinkedIn, ending a partnership that synced updates from one site to the other.
The separations from Instagram and LinkedIn are in line with recent statements from Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, who says he wants companies to build into Twitter instead of building off of it.
Should Twitter continue part ways with other apps? Is it a smart move? Let us know below.
BONUS: The USA Basketball Team’s Instagram Shots Are Ridiculously Awesome