Meta suddenly abolishes third-party access to Facebook groups, causing complaints from developers and users



On January 23, 2024, Meta suddenly announced that they would be deprecating the Facebook Groups API soon. This has caused confusion for companies and social media marketers who have developed tools that utilize the API.

Meta cuts off third-party access to Facebook Groups, leaving developers and customers in disarray | TechCrunch

https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/05/meta-cuts-off-third-party-access-to-facebook-groups-leaving-developers-and-customers-in-disarray/



On January 23, 2024, Meta announced ' Facebook Graph API v19.0 '. With the announcement of Facebook Graph API v19.0, Meta also announced the deprecation of Facebook Groups API. The Facebook Groups API is deprecated in v19 and will be removed from all versions within 90 days. This deprecation includes all permissions associated with the Facebook Groups API (publish_to_groups, groups_access_member_info) and reviewable functionality (Groups API).

Regarding the deprecation of the Facebook Groups API, Meta said, 'The primary use of the Groups API was for private replies within groups . Other changes coming in v19 mean that developers will no longer be able to use the Groups API at all. For most private reply developers, there are no changes to make in v19. Use a call to the group post endpoint through the Groups API after receiving a private reply webhook. Developers who have done so should use page access tokens for such requests.'

For example, if a small business wanted to send a single message to everyone who posted or commented in a Facebook group, they could previously send the message through the Groups API. Meta explains that with the release of Facebook Graph API v19.0, this feature will now be enabled without the Facebook Groups API.

Introducing Facebook Graph API v19.0 and Marketing API v19.0
https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2024/01/23/introducing-facebook-graph-and-marketing-api-v19/



However, developers point out that due to the abolition of the Facebook Group API, companies that provide services that allow users to schedule posts on Facebook in advance will face major problems as their scheduled posting systems will no longer work properly. For example, Adam Peterson, CEO of VipeCloud , which provides tools that allow users to schedule social media posts, said the retirement of the Facebook Groups API 'could have a noticeable impact on about 8% of our total revenue.' He said.

According to CEO Peterson, VipeCloud provides schedule posting functionality to approximately 5,000 Facebook accounts. VipeCloud's customers use the Facebook Groups API to post to Facebook pages, but they also sometimes post content privately to groups to communicate with their teams. CEO Peterson explains the reason for posting content privately on groups: ``There are many cases where small and medium-sized businesses use Facebook groups as a substitute for Slack.''

CEO Peterson said, ``Companies post to Facebook groups to build teams and maintain team motivation, but in many cases they rely on agencies to do this. In many cases, they make a living from their entire business, in other words, from this.'

CEO Peterson points out that many of VipeCloud's competitors have not received investment from venture capital, so many companies will find themselves in a difficult situation due to the discontinuation of the Facebook Group API. 'Some of our competitors may go bankrupt. Even if we were to compete with them, it would never be fun to watch. I would rather win with our services and products.' Ta.



Another service that relies on the Facebook Group API is

PostMyParty , a service that allows you to easily schedule online parties on Facebook. Daniel Burge, owner of PostMyParty, said, ``I will lose 7 years of work and over 10,000 customers in an instant due to the deprecation of Meta's API.This will result in a loss of millions of dollars. , not to mention the impact on all customers using our services.'

Burge said PostMyParty is used by fitness coaches who run online bootcamps on Facebook groups, work-from-home workers who sell on social networks, and small businesses offering coaching services. It seems that there is.

'This isn't the first time Meta has done something like this,' Burge said. 'Years ago, Meta suddenly deprecated the event API without any notice. I remember one day everything just fell apart. 'We received thousands of support requests from customers, and our business almost collapsed at the time.'This is the first time Meta has suddenly discontinued an API without any notice. It is pointed out that this is not the case.



Maurice W. Evans, Meta's Certified Community Manager, said the retirement of the Facebook Groups API not only poses major challenges for small businesses, developers, and the digital marketplace, but also marks a pivotal change in Meta's operating philosophy. It points out that it means

Additionally, Evans said, 'Removal of third-party access to Facebook Groups could significantly change the digital landscape, creating both obstacles and opportunities for community administrators and businesses alike. As a certified community manager, I've seen firsthand the value these tools bring to fostering vibrant and engaged online communities.This change has underscored the need for adaptability and innovation in our strategies. He also said, “I will.”

Archer Web Design, a website design company, said of the deprecation of the Facebook Groups API, ``This is a shocking announcement by Facebook. Facebook is discontinuing third-party API support for Groups. 'The people will be thrown into the Stone Age.'




Several developers on Meta's developer forum also lamented the deprecation of the API, with one developer saying, ``My app relies on the Facebook Groups API, so if the API is deprecated, I will basically not be able to use it at all.'' It will no longer function.”

Additionally, many developers have complained that Meta does not clearly explain whether posting to Facebook groups can now be done using page access tokens. However, at the time of writing the article, Meta had not responded to developer comments on the developer forum, and what the specifications will be remains a mystery.

As a result, one developer posted , ``I have no idea what to do as it will affect my ongoing and soon-to-be-launched projects.''

Related Posts:

in Software,   Web Service, Posted by logu_ii