In House or Third Party Apps?

Various Social Media Content Providers

My question today is this: we all use Facebook and Instagram. But do the normal apps allow us to post easily across the platforms, or can a third party app take the crown?

Facebook

It's weird, Facebook. It will allow you to post to Instagram, but in a roundabout kind of way. You can only do it via the website, and it only allows from a Facebook Business Page to an Instagram Business Account. It doesn't allow for personal accounts at the minute.

There are settings you have to do like sign in to Instagram from the Facebook Page, and then selecting an image every time, so it can be posted to Instagram.

Instagram

Instagram is easy to follow, and allows you to link to Facebook. When you create a post in Instagram, you can select on the message section to share to Facebook (and others), by using a slider. Simple.

The only downside I have figured is that when you tag someone in Instagram, it doesn't convert it into Facebook speak (linking to the adjacent page on Facebook), and for some reason this bugs me.

Third Party Apps

There's a whole plethora of third party applications you can use while on the go:

• Buffer
• Sociallix
• Plann
• Hootsuite
• Crowdfire

They all allow for different levels of ease of setup and functionality. Some are better at it, quicker at it or simple to use, and others... well, they aren't bad, let's put it that way.

For me, a third party app is only good enough to use if you can use all features, and while the free versions of these apps allow the basics, most of them you either have to pay for the full version, or subscribe a monthly fee. Not a big problem, if you have the money spare to do so in the first place.

One thing these apps all have in common. The function of not being allowed to post to Instagram directly. They all allow it via Instagram itself, so you might as well use it on its own. This feature is something Instagram has been working on, as they are working on the API frame to allow it.

Outcome

My conclusion is that while I like features from all the apps, and they all do a fairly good job, for me only using Facebook and Instagram as a test bed, they don't cut the grade for me.

In a real world perspective, if your company uses a lot of social media presence, and more than just Facebook and Instagram, then yes, they work perfectly for whatever your needs are. Always handy to have them on the go too.

Final thought: Personally, I will be going back to using just Facebook and Instagram to post from there. At least for now, until I start working somewhere that I need to use others with. Again, it's something that is based on the needs and what you are used to using.