Ask HN: How are platforms like Buffer and Hootsuite allowed to exist?
Companies like Meta and LinkedIn have taken a harsh stance against programmatic access, and scraping of their platforms. How is it that these companies like Buffer and Hootsuite can exist when it seems that what they do is directly a violation of the terms of use. For instance if I were to create a program to schedule my social media posts for some point in the future, wouldn't I be at risk for Instagram disabling my account? I run RecurPost, a fast growing social media scheduler and hence I know a thing or two about this. We had to go through their approval process to be able to schedule things on your behalf. Any platform that does not ask for your username and password is legit and has been approved by Meta or Twitter etc. Some platforms ask you to install a chrome plugin to connect your account, those are not legit. Terms and Conditions only apply to small players. Larger players like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Hubspot have dedicated teams/people working on partnerships with Meta, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Your standard API limitations don't apply to them. Buffer has API access to FB, Twitter and Linkedin so no scraping is involved. I believe they dont have API access to Instagram and just send you a reminder to post something when you schedule it. Kinda lame Well, sadly you will get banned because you dont bring $ into "the network". Yes, what you say is true. However, all the people working on Meta and other companies have to pay for food, shelter, clothing, rent, transportation, insurance, etc. Money might not be the most important thing in life, but it sure is in the top 5. Meta provides direct API access for publishing content to Facebook pages [0] and, more recently, to Instagram accounts [1]. Any third party company can apply for access and use these apis as long as they comply with Meta's terms of service and data security requirements, which have become stricter in the last few years (for each individual api permission you must submit documentation and evidence of how your app will use the permissions, and must provide a way for Facebook to log in to your app and test the functionality). LinkedIn provides similar access, as well as Twitter, and other social networks. There are literally hundreds of companies that provide functionality similar to Buffer and Hootsuite, including scheduling for future publishing which is not forbidden at all. (Source: I run one of these services.) The confusion may arise because until 2021 it wasn't possible to publish directly to Instagram. Before that only some big players like Hootsuite and Buffer had direct access to the publishing api, and some less than reputable companies used unsanctioned hacks to schedule Instagram content. But in 2021 Instagram opened their publishing api to other third party apps. [0] https://developers.facebook.com/docs/pages/publishing/ [1] https://developers.facebook.com/docs/instagram-api/guides/co... Thanks everyone for the informative replies. So it sounds like if I wanted to get serious about any app that may use their services, the way to do it is to try and establish a partnership.