IFTTT is one of those fascinating web services that I really want to use. It lets you automatic all sorts of stuff online, from watching specific RSS feeds for specific items and then emailing you, to watching your Twitter stream stream for updates and sending them to Google Plus1.
Well, that second part isn't exactly true anymore. This is from a recent email from IFTTT:
In recent weeks, Twitter announced policy changes that will affect how applications and users like yourself can interact with Twitter's data. As a result of these changes, on September 27th we will be removing all Twitter Triggers, disabling your ability to push tweets to places like email, Evernote and Facebook. All Personal and Shared Recipes using a Twitter Trigger will also be removed. Recipes using Twitter Actions and your ability to post new tweets via IFTTT will continue to work just fine.
So basically, you can still send things to Twitter, just not pull them out. That's not surprising coming from the New Twitter, but it's unfortunate. There have been quite a few methods of automagically archiving tweets using IFTTT in recent weeks/ months. Those methods are now officially dead.
Free stinks.
Relying on free tools to do anything important just plain stinks. At any time, the free service could shut down due to lack of funds. At any time, the free service could change the rules, like Twitter did. What are you going to do, request a refund?
When you build workflows around free services, you're setting yourself up to fail. You're trading present convenience for future hassle. At some point in the future, things are likely to change, and you'll have to change with them. You may get advance notice, or you may not.
Things like IFTTT, Twitter, and Gmail are great in many ways. But, with the exception of Gmail2, you can't give any of these services money. No, seriously. Try to pay Twitter. They won't take your money. They have no real reason to care what you think, other than they would prefer you not leave for That Other Place. They know you probably won't, though, so I doubt they lose sleep over you.
For anything that matters to you, look for a paid solution. That's not a guarantee of anything. But it is a step in the right direction.