Notice regarding Twitter and Mastodon live playlist and Tokyo train information services

With the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk and the firing of many of the staff at Twitter, we have been operating in uncertain times as to the future of Twitter and how it will impact our operations at J1 Radio. 

In order to send automated tweets, entities such as J1 Radio use what is called an Application Processing Interface (API).  This allows a direct interface from a computer program to Twitter without having to manually type in the tweet.  

Twitter has announced that as of February 13, 2023, access to the API will only be on a paid basis.  The information that they provide is very vague but from what we can gather right now, free access to the API will be limited to 1,500 tweets per month, which comes out to about 48 tweets per day.  As a user of the API, we must review our usage to determine which services would fall under that 1,500 per month usage cap.  Also, we must take into consideration, other organizations that use Twitter for which our systems use to gather for information for our various services that are broadcast over the air, placed on our websites and mobile apps and translated and delivered over Twitter and Mastodon.  

Based on our evaluation of our current methods, we feel that J1 Radio will be impacted as follows:

Live Playlist

The J1 Live Playlist service includes sending the current song title, artist and number of current listeners to four different Twitter and Mastodon accounts (one for each J1 channel: HITS, XTRA, GOLD and HD).  The number of tweets/toots sent each month far exceed the threshold to maintain free access.

Therefore, J1 Live Playlist services on Twitter will be discontinued.   Despite this, the J1 Live Playlist services will continue on Mastodon by following the accounts for each J1 channel:

J1 HITS:​https://lpfm.social/@j1hits

J1 XTRA:​https://lpfm.social/@j1xtra

J1 GOLD: https://lpfm.social/@j1gold

J1 HD: https://lpfm.social/@j1hd

The J1 Twitter live playlist services have had a long history and we are sad to see them go. 

Tokyo Train Delay Information

Tweets from J1 Radio

For years, J1 has provided a unique service on Twitter where we have provided a form of English language tweet in respect to providing information on train delays and cancellations in the Kanto region.  In addition, some of the information that we receive for these updates are based on tweets originated from the private railways.  The latter is also used for the over the air presentation as well as visual alerts on the J1 Radio website and mobile app. 

On some days, when there is good weather and not many mechanical issues, there are not that many tweets in the day. However, during winter and cyclone season, there are a substantial number of tweets originated.  Because of this uncertainty, we are inclined to temporarily discontinue the Twitter service in order to redesign it to limit the number of tweets sent in a day to comply with the new Twitter usage caps.  

Despite this, we will continue our normal method of operations on Mastodon.  Those who use the @j1_travel Twitter account should use the following resource:

https://lpfm.social/@j1travel

This is the same information that we currently provide on @j1_travel at Twitter.

Tweets from Tokyo area Private Railways and Los Angeles Metro/Metrolink

J1's systems gather information about train delays, both in Japan and the USA from several sources, including Twitter.  Currently, the following railway companies are gathered using data from Twitter:

• Seibu Railway
• Keisei Railway
• Keio Corporation
• Odakyu Railway
• Tokyu Railway
• Yuriamome Line
• Tobu Railway
• Keikyu Railway
• Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)
• Metrolink (Southern California Regional Rail Authority)

Whether these entities will continue to tweet after February 13, 2023 will be their own decisions. Therefore, if a railway decides to discontinue tweeting, we will no longer be able to provide details about those specific railways either on Twitter, Mastodon, over the air on J1, on J1 HD Radio or at the official J1 Radio Mobile App, powered by Aiir.  

The J1 system receives information from the following railway companies outside of Twitter and we expect to continue to provide services over the air, on the app and on Mastodon:

• JR East
• Tokyo Metro
• Toei
• Tsukuba Express
• Rinkai Line
• Tama Monorail
• Yokohama Subway

Earthquake Information

Relaying information about earthquakes is a vital part of the mission of J1 Radio.  Our goal is to provide some level of information on earthquakes throughout Japan in English.  Information is delivered to J1 Radio through APIs outside of Twitter, therefore we will not lose the ability to receive this information. 

J1 also provides delivery of earthquake information via Twitter at https://twitter.com/j1_quake.  We will be soon launching a Mastodon service that mirrors the J1 Twitter service.  

At this time, we do feel that the vital data that is delivered through the @j1_quake service meets the minimum threshold for monthly tweets as allowed under a free account.  Therefore, we are not planning to discontinue the @J1_quake service on Twitter at this time, but we will also begin the process of building a companion Mastodon service.  

Southern California Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Sponsored by REC Networks, J1HD provides a service on Twitter (https://twitter.com/eassocal)  and on Mastodon (https://lpfm.social/@eassocal) which is connected to the US Federal Emergency Management Agency's Integrated Public And Warning System - Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN). The data delivered includes information that is received from state and local authorities, such as Amber alerts for missing children that are intended for rebroadcast on radio and television stations as well as "non-EAS" information bulletins from the National Weather Service.  

With the wide area of Southern California and the varying weather, it is very likely that our Twitter usage may exceed the monthly threshold. However, we consider some of the information delivered on @eassocal to be vital and potentially life saving information.  

In order to comply with the new Twitter caps, we will limit messages on the @eassocal Twitter stream to only EAS qualified alerts from IPAWS-OPEN agencies.   Non-EAS messages that come through IPAWS-OPEN from the National Weather Service will be limited to specific warning types (such as tornado warnings, etc.). 

This does not impact the information that we deliver through Mastodon.  

This also does not impact the Emergency Alert System interruptions heard over the air on J1 HD, 99.1 HD3, Southern California. 

In conclusion

We apologize for this interruption in our various services that you have come to rely on.  This was a decision made fully outside of our control.  J1 Radio and REC Networks strongly recommends the continued use of Mastodon as a social networking platform going forward.  

Thank you for your support and patronage over the years.  We will look out for you on Mastodon.  See you there!