Instagram Changes: Impact on Let’s Talk! Users

Before Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress in early April, Facebook and its other popular social media platforms, including Instagram, were already moving to address privacy concerns. If you’re a Let’s Talk! user, these moves might affect your ability to integrate with certain applications.  

On April 4, Instagram depreciated parts of its public API. Say what? Basically, Instagram removed the ability for third-party apps to interact with its service. If you’re an Instagram user, you’ve probably noticed some of your apps no longer function the same way–or at all.

Instagram originally planned to make the change later this year. But recent concerns about the use of third-party apps to inappropriately use and share user data prompted the company to accelerate its timeline.

What this means for Let’s Talk! users

Let’s Talk! users will notice two changes as a result of the latest Instagram API update:

1. The ability to search for users by their Instagram username has been removed.
2. The ability to respond to Instagram posts has been removed.

The good news? Several key Instagram functions will still remain in Let’s Talk!

These include:

1. The ability to create dialogues from Instagram post.
2. The ability to search Instagram hashtags and see public posts.
3. The ability to see your Instagram stream within your Let’s Talk! account.

The value of privacy

While we recognize the inconvenience these changes might cause, K12 Insight supports the efforts Facebook and Instagram are taking to improve data security and personal privacy. That’s because we share the same concerns that lawmakers, developers, and others have already raised.

Want more on ensuring data privacy and security in your schools? Sign up for the TrustED newsletter.

Every school district must ensure that all personal data shared with them–whether belonging to staff members, parents, or students–is secure and shared according to strict policies. As your partner, it’s critically important we take every precaution to ensure that the data you choose to share with us is kept safe, private, and protected.  

What we’re doing

As the national conversation over data privacy plays out, we anticipate more changes from leading social networks, including Facebook and Instagram.

While the team has no immediate plans to change the functionality of Let’s Talk! as a result of API changes, we will closely monitor future updates and continue to share how they impact use and functionality within the platform.

If you have any further questions about the recent Instagram API changes and how they might affect your use of Let’s Talk!, or would like to hear more about K12 Insight’s approach to data privacy, please reach out to your strategic account executive.