The Role of APIs in the World of Social Media
Social media is a massive force that touches billions of people, and APIs make it all possible.
Written By: Abhinav Asthana, Co-founder of Postman
Social media has exploded in recent years. Numerous platforms, from Facebook to Twitter to Imgur to Foursquare and more, provide an astonishing range of digital interactions to an equally astonishing number of people. Today, the number of people on social media has grown to nearly 3 billion, and the numbers are projected to continue their upward trend.
The power behind all of these digital interactions: APIs
APIs make social media possible. The amount of information that social media generates, possesses, and spreads is staggering, and APIs—which allow different technology systems to talk to each other—are crucial to successfully exchanging all of this information and delivering the experience that users expect.
Examples of social media API functionalities
APIs are being used in countless ways by every social media platform today. Here are just a few popular examples:
Facebook Graph API: Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform, with more than 2.4 billion users. The Graph API is a powerful tool that third-party developers and creators use to retrieve information such as username, email, birthday, and hometown of users. Popular chains such as Subway and Starbucks use the Graph API to collect user information to assist in their marketing and advertising strategies.
Twitter Ads API: Twitter is an immensely influential social media platform launched in 2006. The Twitter Ads API is a key part of their business; it not only helps promote Twitter accounts but also allows organizations to launch their scheduled advertising campaigns. For example, the API helps marketers to reach out to people of a certain age group from a certain city. From one ad account, an organization can roll out about 200 active advertisement campaigns.
Imgur API: Imgur is a social media platform where people share entertaining images. Imgur has a global user base with high engagement, and these users are especially interested in technology, video games, food, and music. Brands outside of Imgur can utilize the Imgur API functionality to expose these users to new gaming and tech items and products.
Foursquare Places API: Foursquare is a social media platform that helps users discover and share information about businesses and attractions around them. The Foursquare Places API helps in assisting in geotagging and making venue recommendations to target users with ease. The process is not complex and the app’s APIs make for smooth operations.
And there are many more: Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, and other social media brands all have created APIs which help make every digital experience unique.
The road ahead
Social media will only continue to grow and evolve, and so will the associated APIs. From activities like spreading social-service messages to creating content for followers of certain musical styles, from organizing environmental events to promoting niche products, these APIs will act as powerful technologies supporting and sustaining the ever-expanding promise of social media.
