What you need to know about changing the Instagram API Graph.
Agencies were caught off guard by Instagram’s recent announcement of upcoming API changes on December 11, 2018. Each brand active on Instagram will be impacted by these changes. It is therefore important to understand the context, the modifications and your options to continue to interact. with your target audience.
Find out what’s changing, what it means for your agency.
The biggest change in December 2018 is the removal of much of the public content.
Removing the public content endpoint means that agencies can no longer freely access the public content of their audiences’ hashtags. Only the publications @ mentioning the commercial account will be accessible, only if the commercial account is logged into a UGC platform (type OuiBeat). After December 11, 2018, all UGC campaigns must include an @mention on Instagram of the brand.
Recent Instagram API Changes
A first series of modifications was made last July. These latest changes to the Instagram API are already having an impact on campaigns:
• Suppression of the analysis of followers and Likes.
Agencies can no longer verify the number of “Likes” received by a publication or the relationships followed.
• Listening engine recovery limit.
Instagram has reduced the number of times a third-party app connected to its API can listen. 200 calls per hour instead of 5,000 previously.
• Deletion of personally identifiable data.
Third parties no longer have access to personal data from Instagram profiles. This includes the avatar, bio, number of followers, number of posts, and name.
• Removal of public comments.
Third parties cannot post to Instagram with this update.
How do these changes affect your agency ?
First, these changes directly affect UGC campaigns. From December 11, your agency will have to encourage users to include your brand account via @mention. Instead of a hashtag before. She must connect her clients’ Instagram account in certified applications (OuiBeat type) with Instagram’s new Graph Business API.
For example, if your brand is Coca Cola and you run a campaign with the hashtag #ShareACoke, your subscribers must include @CocaCola and #ShareACoke before you can access this content. From now on, you must connect the Instagram account @CocaCola to the OuiBeat application in the back office.
Finally, to encourage your users to @mention your brand, communicate its importance in future campaigns. Make it clear that they must include an @mention to participate. Then make @mention more of your Instagram presence to analyze the best behaviors.
Twitter does not change its API for the moment and leaves access open.
And for OuiBeat’s Social Wall Instagram, what does it change?
In the end, nothing because our social wall still allows you to post posts and stories on our social wall since we have updated the Instagram API. Their effectiveness is the same regardless of the objectives you wish to assign to them.
What is behind the Instagram API changes
First, Cambridge Analytica used Facebook’s API to manipulate the 2016 election. Second, Facebook faced a lot of criticism. Then calls for user privacy were heard.
As a result, Facebook-owned sites and apps, such as Instagram, are facing API changes. Consequently, they limit the amount of personal information accessible to third-party applications. Now they require these same applications to be certified.
In fact, the listening limit reduces the ability of illegitimate sources to use and collect large amounts of user data over time. Thus, these modifications prevent robots from generating fake Likes or creating fictitious profiles on Facebook & Instagram