What Is an API?

In a nutshell

An API (short for Application Programming Interface) is a gateway that lets services talk to each other under agreed rules. Just as handing a set form to a shop counter gets you a set procedure, sending an API a request in the agreed format gets actions such as posting or reading accepted.

What official social media APIs can do

Each social network publishes APIs that outside tools can use. How much you can do differs by network and by the terms of use.

An official API only performs the actions you allowed, for accounts the owner has authorized. OAuth handles the authorization steps, and limits on the number of calls (rate limits) are set to prevent overuse.

Things to watch for

When choosing a social media tool, check whether it uses the official API. Methods that hold your password and operate the screen automatically may violate a network's terms and can lead to the account being suspended. API specifications can change at each company's discretion, and something that worked yesterday may stop working. It is reassuring to also check how a tool responds to such changes, and how it notifies you when a connection stops working.

What an API can do is not the same as what the network's app can do. Some features exist in the app but are not offered in the API, so a tool's feature list depends on what each network's API allows. Actions a tool doesn't have must be done in the network's own app.

In SNS TOWN

SNS TOWN talks to each network only through official APIs. It never holds your password; you connect on each network's authorization screen. Both scheduled posts and Analytics run within the scope you authorized. The overall approach to protection is summarized in Security.