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Recent changes to API access on Twitter and Reddit have brought the topic of social media APIs into the news.

APIs power many of the tools and features we use every day in apps and marketing tools — but they’re essentially invisible to everyone but developers. So, what do you need to know about APIs as a social media user or professional?

In this post, we cover everything you need to know about social media APIs to understand how they affect the online tools we use every day.

What is a social media API?

API stands for application programming interface. A social media API is a piece of code that allows social media networks to integrate with third-party apps and tools — for example, social media management tools like Hootsuite.

At its heart, an API is a communications channel. Different programs use it to “talk” to each other and share data in real time. As such, social media APIs allow developers to create apps and services that extend the functionality of social media platforms.

Everyone wins. The social media platforms benefit from this additional functionality without having to build new features themselves. Developers benefit by building new for-profit apps. And users benefit by gaining access to the functions developers create using API data access.

How do social media APIs work?

A social media API works by connecting social media platforms with external tools and apps. It gives external developers access to certain kinds of data that social media-related tools require to work.

All popular social media networks have APIs that developers can use to create social media management tools. You can dig into details on each network’s site for developers:

Instagram APIs
Facebook APIs
YouTube APIs
Twitter APIs
LinkedIn APIs
Pinterest API
TikTok APIs

How does this work in practice? Social media tools like Hootsuite have seamless integrations with all major social networks based on API access. The APIs connect Hootsuite with your social media accounts. Thanks to them, you can manage all your social accounts from one centralized dashboard rather than switching between tabs to handle profiles on different platforms separately. This includes scheduling and publishing posts, putting together analytics reports, replying to messages and comments, and so on.

Networks decide how much social media data their APIs give developers access to. That means apps and other tools that help you manage your social media accounts have to play by the rules set out by the social platforms. That’s why connecting social accounts to a third-party tool for the first time can be cumbersome — social platforms will typically ask you to confirm your consent to share data before granting initial access through their API.

The social media APIs also dictate what features third-party tools can — and can’t — provide. Does it seem like your social media management tools are making you jump through hoops to accomplish a task? It’s likely because they are working around the limitations of a social platform’s API.

For example, Instagram has two main APIs. The Instagram Basic Display API allows developers to create consumer-level apps (e.g. apps that allow users to feature their Instagram feed on their website). These only require basic access to an Instagram account.

The Instagram Graph API provides greater functionality. It’s intended for apps that allow professional Instagram accounts to manage their entire Instagram presence — like Hootsuite.

What are the different types of social media APIs?

Open APIs

Source: Camwilliams96, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Open APIs are publicly available interfaces. These are also sometimes called public APIs or a free social media API.

Generally, these don’t provide access to proprietary or copyrighted data. Instead, they are designed to help developers make use of data that is publicly available.

For example, the Google Maps JavaScript API allows anyone to create a map with a specific place marker and embed it on their website. This is a custom use of data already publicly available in Google Maps.

Here’s what the code would look like for a basic webpage with a custom map created using the Maps JavaScript API:

Source: Google Maps Platform

Developers might need to register for access or authentication to use open APIs. In the example above, you can see the API key, which is a form of authentication. The other form of authentication sometimes required for open APIs is called an OAuth.

To use the Facebook APIs, for example, developers need to create a developer account. Before an app using the Facebook APIs goes live, the developer must add a verified business to the app. They also have to answer some questions about their data handling practices. The app then goes into review.

Partner APIs

Partner APIs are only available to approved business partners. Before developers get access to the API, they need to apply for approval. Then, they are granted a specific type of access in the form of a license or a rights agreement.

Since these APIs provide access to data that is not publicly available, they are much more limited in use. They are usually restricted to performing one specific task. Authentication is usually required in the form of an access token.

Internal APIs

Internal APIs are used to help different systems within one social network work better together. They provide access to backend data for developers who either work for the company or have been contracted by the company. These are not accessible to outside developers. These are also sometimes called private APIs.

Are social media APIs secure?

One of the main benefits of APIs is that they use various security protocols to protect information as it is transferred between applications.

Remember, the “I” in API stands for “interface.” The interface works like a middleman between applications and your devices. The applications only share the information they need to perform specific tasks.

APIs provide users choice in what data is made available to third-party tools. For example, when you grant an app or tool like Hootsuite access to your LinkedIn account, you’ll see a screen asking you which data you want to share. You can also edit this access at any time from the Settings & Privacy menu on your LinkedIn profile.

But even with these guardrails, APIs definitely do have vulnerabilities, since they create a potential data access point for bad actors. Hackers exploited vulnerabilities in Facebook’s APIs in a massive breach in 2018. An API vulnerability also resulted in a Twitter hack in 2022.

APIs are critical to social media platform functionality — so social media companies are consistently working to improve security. On the user side, it’s a good idea to limit your use of third-party social media apps to those that have their own security protocols in place.

6 more interesting facts about social media APIs

1. Social media APIs power interactive chatbots

APIs are the connecting force that allow personalized, interactive, and AI-powered chatbots to run on social media platforms. Have you ever interacted with a chatbot on Facebook Messenger? That conversation was made possible by the Facebook Messenger API.

2.Social media APIs from different platforms can be used together

Each social network has its own API(s). But developers can use those APIs in combination to create tools that provide functionality for multiple social networks. This makes life much easier for anyone who has more than one social media account.

For example, each social platform has its own native analytics information. You can access the analytics for each of your accounts by logging into the account and navigating the the analytics tab. But an API-powered management tool like Hootsuite uses analytics APIs from multiple social platforms. This provides an analytics tool that shows results from multiple platforms all on one screen.

3. Social media APIs have generally been free—but Twitter recently changed that

Starting February 9, we will no longer support free access to the Twitter API, both v2 and v1.1. A paid basic tier will be available instead

— Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) February 2, 2023

Twitter sparked major debate about the use of APIs in February 2023, when they announced their free API access would be shut down. In May they launched API tiered access pricing:

Free for “write-only use cases and testing the Twitter API”
$100/month for “hobbyists or prototypes”
$5,000/month for “startups scaling their business”
And reportedly up to $42,000/month for “businesses and scaled commercial projects”

Reddit soon followed suit. They announced that commercial API access would require a significant monthly fee.

This has led to the shutdown of many smaller third-party apps for Twitter and Reddit. It remains to be seen if this trend will continue to other social platforms.

4. Social media platforms continue to create new APIs

As social platforms build new functionality, they need to create and release new APIs.

For example, Meta added an Instagram Reels API in late June 2002. They followed up with a Reels API for Facebook in September. In May 2023, Meta added Instagram Stories to the Instagram Content Publishing API. This resulted in announcements like this:

5. Social media APIs could help prevent chronic disease or improve disaster response

Social media APIs provide valuable information for researchers that can be used for the public good—such as preventing chronic disease or getting early warning about natural disasters.

For example, the World Health Organization created a pilot project to gather COVID-19 data from public online conversations, including through social media monitoring API. Other researchers analyzed data related to nicotine poisoning using TikTok hashtags and APIs.

The latest proposal is to develop a system to help prevent chronic disease by identifying potential risk factors based on information collected through social media APIs.

Source: Diana Braga et al. / Procedia Computer Science 220 (2023) 820–825

Researchers have also suggested that data gathered from social media APIs could help governments and rescue organizations better understand what’s happening on the ground in disaster areas so they can improve their response.

6. LinkedIn has adopted an API-first approach

This is an interesting indication of how much value LinkedIn sees in the tools created by third party developers. In the summer of 2022, they began versioning their Marketing APIs.

As part of this change to their API platform, they determined that new features would launch on the partner API at the same time as they launched on the LinkedIn user interface. In some cases, they would actually launch first on the partner API.

Save time managing your social media presence with Hootsuite. From a single secure dashboard, you can publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversions, engage the audience, measure results, and more — across all major networks. Try it free today.

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The post Social Media APIs Explained (In Simple Terms) appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.

Originally posted on July 5, 2023 @ 1:41 pm

Ever feel like crafting AI art prompts requires secrets and magic? How are all of these creative professionals creating stunning, mind-blowing visuals in tools like Midjourney and DALL-E when all of your prompts fall flat?

The reality is that creating cool AI art prompts isn’t as complicated as it might seem. With the right knowledge, you can use simple keywords and formulas to generate high-quality AI art.

In this article, we’ll break down how to write effective AI art prompts from start to finish. We’ll also offer up examples and templates that you can use to jumpstart your own AI art projects.

Looking to add generative AI to your social media flow? Check out OwlyWriter AI, Hootsuite’s very-own AI caption generator.

How do AI art generators work?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of AI art prompt tips, it’s important to understand how AI art generators work. First off, generative AI applications are robots, not humans. That might seem obvious, but it’s important to remember that these generators don’t understand the world like you do.

AI art generators don’t know what an owl looks like in the wild. They don’t know what a sunset looks like in a physical sense. They can only understand details about features, patterns, and relationships within the datasets they’ve been trained on.

Prompting for a “beautiful face” is not very helpful. It is more effective to prompt for specific features such as symmetry, big lips, and green eyes. Even if the bot doesn’t understand beauty, it can recognize the features you describe as beautiful and generate something relatively accurate.

To get the best results from your AI art generator prompt, you’ll need to give clear and detailed instructions. An effective AI art prompt should include specific descriptions, shapes, colors, textures, patterns, and artistic styles. This allows the neural networks used by the generator to create the best possible visuals.

How to write an AI art prompt

Now that you know how AI art generators work, it’s time to start crafting your prompts. Here are a few tips and tricks you can use when writing good AI art prompts.

1. Describe the content of your image

When writing an AI art prompt, you’ll want to be as descriptive as possible about the content of your image. Is it a drawing, sketch, or 3D rendering? Should it look like a photograph, or is something more illustrated?

Try starting your prompt like this:

A photograph of…
A 3D rendering of…
A sketch of…
An illustration of…

2. Describe the subject

All AI art prompts should include a description of the subject you want to create. This could be anything from a person, animal, or object to an abstract concept or emotion. Get as specific with your descriptions as possible so the AI generator knows what to look for in its datasets.

For example:

An illustration of an owl…
A photograph of a president…
A 3D rendering of a chair…

Here’s a Midjourney AI art prompt for: “An illustration of an owl.”

3. Add relevant details

Next, add detail to your prompt by including relevant information about the elements of your image. This could include anything from colors, color palettes, shapes, sizes, and textures.

If you want to generate an image of a bear, don’t just say “bear.” Explain what kind of bear it is (brown and black, grizzly or polar), its surroundings (a forest or mountain range), and any other interesting details.

For example:

An illustration of a red owl with bright blue eyes…
A photograph of a president wearing a navy suit…
A 3D rendering of a chair that’s round and yellow…

Here’s an AI art prompt example from Midjourney for: “An illustration of a red owl with bright blue eyes.”

4. Describe the form and style

You’ll also want to provide details about the form and style of your AI art. This is especially important if you’re looking for a specific visual effect. For example, you might include keywords such as “abstract,” “minimalist,” or “surreal” to convey a certain artistic feel.

Try this:

An illustration of a red owl with bright blue eyes in the style of abstract expressionism…
A photograph of a president wearing a navy suit with a minimalist look…
A 3D rendering of a chair that’s round and yellow in the style of cubism…

You can also use a specific artist’s name here to mimic their style. For instance, say, “Like Salvador Dali.” Or, mention an artist’s specific artwork, like “Like Andy Warhol’s Shot Marilyns painting.”

Here is the Midjourney result for “An illustration of a red owl with bright blue eyes in the style of abstract expressionism.”

5. Define the composition

Finally, you can use keywords to define the composition of your image. This includes things like resolution, lighting style, aspect ratio, and camera view.

For example:

An illustration of a red owl with bright blue eyes in the style of abstract expressionism with volumetric lighting.
A photograph of a president wearing a navy suit with a minimalist look taken from an aerial viewpoint.
A 3D rendering of a chair that’s round and yellow in the style of cubism with a resolution of 4096 x 2160.

Here is the Midjourney result for: “An illustration of a red owl with bright blue eyes in the style of abstract expressionism with volumetric lighting.”

With these examples, you can see how each image changes as the prompt evolves.

Additional AI art prompt tips to consider

Here are a few additional tips to keep in mind when generating AI art from prompts.

Use keywords that the AI generator can understand. Don’t use overly complicated or uncommon words, as the AI’s neural networks won’t be able to recognize them.
Keep your prompts short and sweet. While having at least 3 to 7 words in an AI art prompt is recommended, don’t overwhelm the system by being overly descriptive.
Adjectives are your best friend! Use multiple adjectives to describe your art’s subject, style, and composition.
Avoid conflicting terms that have opposite meanings. For example, using both “realistic” and “abstract” to describe the style of your AI art will likely confuse the generator.
Use other AI copywriting tools, like ChatGPT, as AI art prompt generators. Why not let the robots do the work?
Research the specific tool you’re using to find out what keywords it can recognize. Tools like Midjourney, DALL-E, and Bing Image Creator all work a little differently. We’ll go into their characteristics later on in this article.

50 AI art prompt examples to try

Need AI art prompt ideas? Here are some of the best prompts for AI art generator tools you can use today.

A 3D rendering of a tree with bright yellow leaves and an abstract style.
An illustration of a mountain in the style of Impressionism with a wide aspect ratio.
A photograph of a steampunk alien taken from a low-angle viewpoint.
A sketch of a raccoon in bright colors and minimalist composition.
A 3D rendering of a spaceship in the style of cubism with high resolution.
An old woman washing her clothes in the winter in the style of Renaissance art with a narrow aspect ratio.
A 3D rendering of a star with pastel colors and a whimsical look.
A picture of a butterfly riding a motorcycle in vaporware style with a wide-angle view.
A photograph of three friends playing music on the street in the style of Pop Art with a medium aspect ratio.
A group of pug dogs at a rave in a Renaissance style.
A sketch of a mysterious castle in the style of Gothic art with an aerial viewpoint.
A 3D rendering of an office desk with a futuristic look and bokeh.
Cubist painting of a backlit train station with bright colors and realistic textures.
An illustration of a woman laying on a bed in a dynamic pose dreaming in black-and-white.
Impressionist oil painting of a beach at sunset with a narrow aspect ratio.
A photograph of a city skyline in the style of Edward Hopper taken from an aerial viewpoint.
A 3D rendering of a cat sitting on a windowsill in minimalist style with high resolution.
Graffiti-style painting of a city street with an urban look and textured surfaces.
A sketch of a pirate ship in black-and-white with realistic textures and low resolution.
A chalk drawing of a family picnic being attacked by ants in Central Park with a surrealist style.
A watercolor painting of a coffee shop with surreal elements in vibrant colors.
An oil painting of a rainbow over a rural abandoned town with classic style.
A 3D rendering of a spaceship taking off into space with a cyberpunk look and wide aspect ratio.
A futuristic space station is shown in jewel tones, ultra photoreal, and cinematic lighting.
A creative composition of a frog wearing a crown sitting on a log in a Japanese anime style.
Outside of a 1960s diner in monochromatic colors and vintage feel.
A retro-style robot playing a futuristic video game in neon tones with medium resolution.
An image of a dark and mysterious castle with bats flying around it in an American Gothic style.
An animated GIF of a robot dancing to 80s music with a cartoon look.
An illustration of a family photo taken on the beach in the style of Ansel Adams.
An abstract painting of a sunflower in the middle of a desert with bright colors and low resolution.
A beachfront bar at a holiday resort at nighttime with purple and pink tones in a pop art style.
A 3D rendering of a garden blooming with flowers under the moonlight in a low-angle view.
A fantasy painting of a castle sitting on top of a craggy peak with a cinematic tone.
A candid photograph of a woman standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean in an art nouveau style.
A 3D rendering of a cityscape at night with neon lights and an abstract style.
An illustration of a spaceship flying through the stars in the style of Van Gogh with a full depth of field.
A sketch of two cats sitting on a sofa watching TV while eating spaghetti.
Two monsters playing chess in the style of cubism with bright colors and low resolution.
A picture of a person walking alone through a forest in the style of Romanticism taken from an aerial viewpoint.
A low-detail oil painting of a thunderstorm over a cityscape with dark tones and a backlit resolution.
A 3D rendering of a futuristic train station in the style of Art Nouveau with volumetric lighting.
An illustration of a river winding through a meadow in the style of Impressionism with a thick black outline.
A photograph of a person sitting on a bench facing the sunset in black and white.
A minimalist painting of a city skyline in bright colors and high resolution.
A sketch of two robots talking to each other with a surreal look and narrow aspect ratio.
A Dadaist collage of a post-apocalyptic world in neon tones and 4K resolution.
A rococo painting of a garden with abstract elements and high resolution.
A photograph of an old man walking in the rain making eye contact with the viewer in a mid-shot view.
A watercolor painting of a flock of birds flying over a river at sunset with realistic textures.

AI art tool comparisons

Finding the right AI art generator for your project can be tricky. To help your process, let’s compare Midjourney, DALL-E, and Bing Image Creator. This will help you decide which is best suited to your needs.

Midjourney

Midjourney is an AI tool that creates pictures from words. Users can change the image size, shape, view, and more. Midjourney is known for its photo-realism images, as well as hyperrealistic images.

Midjourney also operates in a Discord chatroom. You can see how others create AI art prompts and get inspired by their work.

Keep in mind your first 25 images on Midjourney are free. But after that, basic plans start at $10 per month.

Some tips for using Midjourney:

Words at the start of the prompt hold more weight than words at the end.
Midjourney particularly likes artist references, so feel free to include them in your prompt.
Some of the most effective Midjourney keywords include: Fashion photography, Pulitzer Prize-winning photography, Bokeh, Volumetric Lighting, Golden Hour, Soft natural lighting, and Film gain. Find more here.

Here’s a Midjourney example for: “A Dadaist collage of a post-apocalyptic world in neon tones and volumetric lighting.”

DALL-E

DALL-E is a great AI art generator trained on the concept of “imagination.” It creates surreal dreamscapes and can interpret creative concepts as well as abstract ideas. The images DALL-E produces often have a unique, otherworldly feel to them.

Unlike Midjourney, DALL-E focuses more on creative prompts and less on photorealistic images. It also follows word prompts closely and has an intuitive interface, giving new users a relatively low learning curve. DALL-E gives you 50 free credits upfront and then 15 more each month you use the service. But, those that use the tool beyond their free prompt limit will need to pay $15 for every additional 115 prompts.

Some tips for using DALL-E:

DALL-E works best with specified art styles. Try styles like digital art, steampunk art, cyberpunk art, or vapourware art.
As a faithful prompt follower, DALL-E enjoys descriptive prompts. Add adjectives like dark, light, epic, sad, or happy to improve your results.
DALL-E often leaves the background white if you don’t specify a color. To add a backdrop, include keywords like “in Paris” or “in the woods at night” to your prompt.

We used the same AI art prompt from our Midjourney test, ??”A Dadaist collage of a post-apocalyptic world in neon tones and volumetric lighting,” in DALL-E.

Here’s what we got:

Different, right?

Bing Image Creator

Whereas Midjourney focuses on photorealism, and DALL-E emphasizes creative concepts, the Bing Image Creator specializes in vibrance and detail.

Bing Image Creator struggles a bit with facial features, fine detail, and consistency of style. But it’s free to use, so you don’t have to feel bad if you don’t like your results.

Some tips for using Bing Image Creator:

Bing Image Creator recommends formatting your prompts like this: Adjective + Noun + Verb + Style.
Adding creative details like locations, artistic styles, and camera views can help improve your image quality.
Get creative and have fun!

Here’s the result for “A Dadaist collage of a post-apocalyptic world in neon tones and volumetric lighting” from Bing Image Creator.

FAQs about AI art prompts

Is there a free AI art generator?

There are many free AI art generators, such as Nightcafe, Starry AI, Bing Image Creator, and Craiyon. Tools like Midjourney and DALL-E also offer free credits for accessing their services.

What is a good prompt for AI art?

The best AI art prompts vary depending on the tool and the desired outcome. In general, it’s best to use a combination of descriptive adjectives and specific nouns when writing your prompt. You can also use other artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT to generate prompts.

How can I create my own AI art?

To create your own AI art, use an AI art generator like Midjourney, DALL-E, or Bing Image Creator. Then, use the tool’s interface to craft your prompts and generate images.

Save time managing your social media presence with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversions, engage the audience, measure results, and more. Try it free today.

Get Started

The post How to Write AI Art Prompts [Examples + Templates] appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.

Originally posted on July 5, 2023 @ 6:41 pm