When it comes to connecting social media accounts to third-party services, specialists often overlook the importance of using official API.
In SMM training, security issues related to third-party services are often not discussed. Instructors say to connect pages to auto-posting services for automation. A young specialist finds an attractive service online, connects the pages of their first client. However, these pages are later hacked without any possibility of recovery.
Services with unofficial connections often promise easy solutions and instant results, but in practice, they come with many risks. Unofficial connections can lead to leaks of personal information, such as passwords, birth dates, and phone numbers. Additionally, they can open the door to fraud, which can result in financial losses.
So why should you pay attention to official APIs? The answer is simple. By using the official platform, you will have access to ongoing support and regular updates. These tools are designed with all modern security standards and comply with all relevant regulations.
In this article, we will look at real user stories of those who suffered from unofficial social media connections. Let’s explore how to avoid traps and make the right choice based on the experiences of others.Problems with unofficial social media connections
When we talk about unofficial connections, we mean third-party apps or services that access social media without official permission. It may seem harmless, but it can lead to serious problems.
First, when you use unofficial connections, you don’t know who you are trusting with your data.
When you give access to your social media account to a third-party app or website, you are actually allowing them to access your personal information, including your login details, contact information, and even your private messages.
Second, using unofficial connections can lead to your account being blocked.
When social media algorithms detect that you are using an unofficial connection, they might block your account because you are breaking the rules. Recovering it can be difficult.
Additionally, unofficial connections are often unreliable and full of bugs.
For example, if you use a third-party app to schedule your posts, you might find that they don’t publish correctly or that your account is flooded with spam messages.
But that’s not all. We cannot forget about financial losses. For instance, to pay for a subscription, you need to put your card number and the three numbers on the back. Then you get charged again and again.
Also, some connections can have viruses or bad programs that can steal your information and cause more money to be lost.
Real user stories
The story of Alexander, Owner of a popular sports account
Alexander had a fairly popular account dedicated to sports. He posted announcements, analytical articles, and match reviews. He saw that his posts weren't getting a lot of replies. So he wanted to use a service to find out more about his followers. He simply typed "audience analysis" into a search engine and chose the first tool he found. He quickly authorized through his social network and granted access to his account.
At first glance, the connection seemed successful. The service promised reports that would help adapt content to his audience's interests. But, as often happens, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. A few days later, Alexander discovered that he could not log into his account. He entered his username and password, and… nothing happened. He tried to get back in, but got an email saying his account was locked.The reason? An unofficial connection.
Alexander began to look for ways to solve the problem. He first found the FAQ section on the official social network's website, but it only contained general information. It took him a long time to understand that he had to ask support to get back into his account. He wrote a message explaining the situation.
A couple of days later, he received a response. It turned out that if Alexander could prove his identity and promise not to use unofficial services anymore, they might reinstate his access.
Now, Alexander analyzes his audience using official platforms and feels calm and confident. Moreover, his content has become more targeted, and the response from his followers has noticeably increased.
The story of Ksenia, owner of a clothing store
With the arrival of fall, Ksenia, who owns a clothing store, decided to surprise her followers by giving away a coat from her latest collection. However, since her account had a large following, she needed a service to automate the contest - selecting winners, filtering out dishonest participants, removing bots, and more.
After signing up for the service, Ksenia started having massive security issues with her account. She received some strange messages, noticed an increase in her number of followers, and noticed other unusual activity. Ksenia was in shock. She didn’t know what was happening to her account or how to stop these attacks.
Fortunately, she quickly realized that the problem was with the contest service. She disconnected her account, cleaned her page of spam, and changed all her passwords.
Ksenia learned a valuable lesson: always pay special attention to account security and use official APIs when connecting to third-party services.
The story of Nikita, a beginner in social media marketing
Nikita is an inexperienced SMM manager. After getting a job at a small company, his main task was to manage social media accounts. To make his work easier, he decided to use an auto-post service. It was supposed to do a lot of boring work for him. He picked the first platform he saw. He didn't think about what would happen.
After connecting the service, half of the functions on the social media platforms stopped working. The young man could not like posts, make reposts, or respond to messages and comments. This was a real disaster, as social media was the main communication channel with customers.
Nikita was disappointed. He unknowingly put the work accounts at risk and jeopardized his reputation as an SMM manager.
Not knowing what to do, Nikita decided to contact the social media support team. It turned out that using unofficial APIs is dangerous for the community. So some functions for interacting with other users were turned off.
The young man decided to use the official API in order to resolve the issue. After doing so, he was able to regain access to the necessary features he needed in order to perform his tasks.
Benefits of using official API
Let’s discuss why you should only trust official API.
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Official API are created with all necessary security protocols in mind. This means that your data is protected from unauthorized access and hacking.
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Official API provides access to all the latest features and functionalities of social media platforms.
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Official API are constantly updated to ensure compatibility with the latest features and updates. Additionally, if you encounter any problems, you can always contact support for assistance.
So, here’s the answer to why you should use official API to connect to social media. It's not just about convenience, it's about security, stability and access to all the necessary features.
Use Postmypost — a service with an official API that keeps your data safe, so you can focus on creating great content without worrying about hackers or other threats.
