What is IFTTT and what can you use it for

Social media is very beneficial if used well. However, you do not always have time to keep checking and posting on your social media handles. This is where automation comes in handy and IFTTT is one tool that can be helpful.

What is IFTTT?

It is both a website and a mobile app. It launched in 2010 with the slogan: “Put the Internet to work for you”. Short for “If This, Then That,” IFTTT is an easy way to automate tasks that might otherwise be repetitive or unable to talk to each other.

Getting Started

Head over to the IFTTT website or install the app on your phone. Click the Sign-Up link and enter the email and password you’d like to use. IFTTT will take you through a small tutorial on how to use the site, and then ask you to select three channels you’re interested in.

Select channels of services that you have accounts with. If you’d like, you can also select more than three, as well as click the Show more channels link to see other channels you might want to add. When you’re finished, click Continue, and you’ll see a page with various recipe recommendations based on your channel selections.

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How it works

Users are guided through a process to make simple scripts, also known as “recipes,” where some type of event in one device or service automatically triggers an action in another. IFTTT is also completely free, and well supported. It has more than 300 channels spread across a range of devices and services, including social networks, smart appliances, smart home systems, and devices such as weather stations, audio systems, and wearables.

The automation is accomplished via applets that connect multiple apps to run automated tasks. You can turn on or off an applet using IFTTT’s website or mobile apps. You can also create your own applets or make variations of existing ones via IFTTT’s user-friendly, straightforward interface.

Applets essentially automate your daily workflow, whether it’s managing smart home devices or apps and websites. So, for example, I use IFTTT to automatically retweet all tweets from Dignited. You could use IFTTT to automatically email readers when they comment on your WordPress blog. Just look through the available applets and turn on what you want.

Also, you can create your own applet to do as you wish.