The Polkadot OpenGov Observer and Kusama OpenGov Observer bots, originally funded under Referendum 352, are no longer active

Despite their usefulness in sharing governance updates, repeated Twitter account suspensions, algorithmic reach limitations, and the platform’s constraints on frequent automated posting have made it unsustainable to continue operating them effectively.

Polkadot OpenGov Observer current state:

Kusama OpenGov Observer current state:

The OpenGov Observer team will no longer continue operating the Polkadot OpenGov Observer and Kusama OpenGov Observer bots. These bots ran for nearly a year, providing automated governance updates on Twitter. However, due to multiple challenges, continued development and maintenance have become unsustainable.This update also serves to clarify that we will not seek any further treasury funding for the operation or upkeep of these bots. Running such bots on Twitter is no longer feasible for developers nor a sustainable use of treasury resources.

Reasons

1. Repeated Twitter bot prevention actions and account suspensions
2. Bots were limited in scope – they could only highlight votes above a certain threshold (1K KSM / 10K DOT), missing many smaller governance actions
3. Frequent posting led to Twitter algorithm limiting the bots’ visibility
4. High maintenance costs with limited impact in terms of reach and engagement

Achievements:

Despite the challenges, these bots provided a valuable service by making on-chain governance data visible on Twitter. They were often cited in discussions and shared by the community to highlight key referenda and voting trends. However, the overall use case remained narrow compared to the effort and restrictions involved in maintaining them.

Next Steps:

We are including a community poll with this message. If the majority votes yes, we will proceed to:

• Permanently delete the bot accounts
• Restrict access to the GitHub repository
• Fully discontinue all operations and future development

We sincerely thank everyone who supported these efforts.

Written by: Ashutosh Singh (Project Founder)