Instagram Declares War on Automation – What Has Changed with the New API?

At the end of 2017, we provided you with our Instagram Whitepaper. It contained various tips and tricks for developing an Instagram strategy, as well as analysis tools for the image platform. Unfortunately, we now have bad news: many of these helpful little apps have stopped working since the beginning of April. The reason for this is changes to the Instagram API, which are intended to lead to greater data security for Instagram users. We explain the implications for the analysis and use of your Instagram account in this article.

What Exactly is an API?

An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a set of defined methods for communication between different software components. With an API, connection possibilities for other programs to a software are provided. In Instagram's case, this meant that programmers of other apps (analysis tools, posting services, etc.) could establish a connection to Instagram itself and access parts of the database or other functions. However, these functions have been severely restricted by the recent changes.

Kill the Bots

Heavy users will likely have noticed already: reach is plummeting. This is nothing new; it happens repeatedly on all social media platforms. There's no point in complaining, and we've learned to live with it, more or less. What is new, however, is that since the beginning of April 2018, many Instagram accounts are also experiencing drops in engagement rates. Why is this? To answer this question, we need to look at where the engagement was coming from.

Especially when using large hashtags – those with several hundred thousand or even millions of posts – you attract false engagement in the form of bots. The app's operators themselves regularly carry out deletion waves of fake profiles. Instagram also took action in 2017 against users who employed these fake likes and followers, which led to Instagress, the largest app for automating likes, follows, unfollows, and comments, being shut down. However, there were other competitors in this niche, and the changed Instagram Graph API is also affecting them. Many bots can no longer access other users' profiles from outside.

The lives of content managers who want a closer look at the insights of influencer profiles are becoming more difficult, as common analysis tools are also affected by the Instagram API change. For example, SocialBlade can no longer access user information. Only data collected by the analysis platform up to the beginning of April 2018 can (currently) be viewed. The situation is different on the InfluencerDB platform, where business profiles can be analysed again after a short pause.

Follow Me – But Actively, Please

Further follower analysis tools, such as the Unfollowers app, also no longer work. Those who pursued a follow-unfollow strategy must now switch to manual mode and perform the work within the Instagram app itself. However, there are also restrictions here – Instagram now has spam protection, through which a user can follow or unfollow a maximum of 100 profiles within 5 hours. Exceeding this number risks a block of one's own profile.

Upload Instead of Embed

Anyone who previously embedded their Instagram feed on their website or blog must now not only consider GDPR, but also the correct display of the Instagram widget. While embedding one's own feed via Access Tokens still works for most plug-ins, hashtag feeds can no longer be displayed. For many reasons, it is therefore advisable to upload your own images directly to the website rather than embedding them via a plug-in: data protection and functionality are thereby guaranteed, and the images also contribute to your SEO karma account.

Our whitepaper has now been revised and includes only apps and analysis services that currently work. You can download the updated version via this link.