If your channel has been connected for a long time, Social Media Management’s connection to your channel via the network API may become faulty. In such cases, your channel may not instantly become disconnected, though you may experience minor issues such as post publishing errors or missing comments.
Over time, your channel may eventually become disconnected if not refreshed periodically. Specific causes of connection issues include access token expiration, which is common for Facebook and Instagram due to Meta's token policies, and platform updates or policy changes, which can affect TikTok connections.
Since we regularly update our platforms to stay current with network features and bug fixes, we recommend that you refresh your channel connections every 3-4 months to keep your channel authentication fresh and minimize connection issues. Refreshing channels is a quick process that a Social Media Management Admin or Team Leader can do at any time.
From Social Media Management's left-hand navigation sidebar, click on the Settings (cog) icon > Channel admin.
You will see a Refresh button to the right of any channel in your Channels list that is eligible to be refreshed. Click Refresh on the desired channel.
You have the option to connect the owned channel yourself, or invite a user without Brandwatch access to connect a channel. To proceed with connecting your own account, click Connect.
You will see a pop-up screen when Brandwatch is authenticating with the external network.
When prompted, log into the native network using your social account credentials and accept any permission authorizations. (If you are already logged into your social account in your browser, Brandwatch may proceed through this step without any authorization needed). You will see a confirmation pop-up when authentication is complete and be redirected back to Brandwatch.When complete, you’ll see a confirmation indicator that your changes will be saved and SMM will refresh.
After, your channel will be available in your Channels list with a Connected status.
Tip: The audit log in your Social Media Management settings will log the refreshed channel connection. You can view the dates and times of your channel connections there at any time.