Connect your social accounts to Listening

You must connect your social accounts to Listening to get social media data in your search results and topics. For example, you can get results from specific Facebook Pages, Instagram accounts, and LinkedIn Pages when they contain a keyword that matches a search or topic.

To comply with social network privacy policies, you need to authorize Hootsuite to collect data for you. When you connect a social account, a token is created that allow Hootsuite to access data from the account.

Tokens are what allow Hootsuite to access the social platform on your behalf. They can be your own tokens, or tokens from another user who has approved access to the social media platform for Listening.

The token permits read-only access. Hootsuite will not post or edit content, or access any of your personal information or conversations.

You must have Hootsuite administrator permissions and administrator permissions on the social account to connect it to Listening.

Important: If you do not connect a social account, Listening will not be able to access any social data for your searches or topics.

Connect a social account to Listening

The following requirements must be met before you can connect a social account to Listening for monitoring.

• Facebook monitoring: Your personal Facebook account must have full access rights to the public Facebook Page you want to monitor. .
• Instagram monitoring: The Instagram Business account you want to monitor must be linked to a public Facebook Page for which you have full access rights.
• LinkedIn monitoring: You must have super admin access rights on the LinkedIn Company page you want to monitor.

Follow these steps to connect a social account:

1. Go Listening and click Settings.
2. Select the Connected Accounts tab.
3. Select the social media platform you want to add. You can select from the following platforms:
   • Facebook and Instagram
   • Facebook and Instagram Insights
   • LinkedIn
   • Vimeo
4. In the authentication window, enter your credentials to log in to the social platform.
5. Once the platform authenticates your credentials, close the window.

Invite another user to authenticate a social account

If you don't have access to the social account that owns the Page you want to monitor, you can invite the account admin or another person with access to the account to authenticate for you, either by sharing a link with them or inviting them to authenticate the account by email.

For example, if you need insights from a client's Instagram page, you can ask them to generate an access token that allows you to collect data for them. They don't need to have Listening to authenticate the social account. They can connect their account by following the instructions in the email or by clicking on the link you share with them.

1. Go Listening and select Settings.
2. Select the Connected Accounts tab, then select Invitations.
3. Choose one or more platforms from the Social media channels list.
4. Choose the way you want to invite them to authenticate:
   • By shared link: Select Generate a link. In the Generate a link window, select Copy link, then share the link with the person who can authenticate the account.
   • By email: Enter an email subject, and one or more email addresses (separated by commas). Customize your message or use the default message, then select Send invitations.