Why do I need a WordPress.com application?

All third-party integration with WordPress.com occurs via a WordPress.com application (an application defined at developer.wordpress.com), and every application is owned by one and only one WordPress.com profile. You could either develop and code your own service to operate your application, or you could use an existing service to act as your agent.

The SocialOomph service is the agent that acts as the operator of your WordPress.com application.

This arrangement means you own the WordPress.com application that posts to your WordPress.com properties, and you use SocialOomph as the software engine to do that posting for you.

It holds the following benefits:

• The WordPress.com application belongs to you and only you can use it to publish posts to WordPress.com.
• If any WordPress.com application (other than your own) that also uses SocialOomph as an agent is restricted, deactivated, or deleted, your WordPress.com application and your past WordPress.com posts are not affected. In other words, you are insulated from undesireable posting behavior by other users and from erroneous account deactivations by WordPress.com.
• Your WordPress.com application's reputation (that WordPress.com uses to impose restrictions and deactivations) relies solely on your posting behavior and is not affected by any undesirable posting behavior of anyone else.
• For WordPress.com the benefit is that your WordPress.com application operates within their rules and application management environment. In other words, they can enforce their policies and rules on your application with no impediment. Undesireable posting behavior can be identified and shut down much faster because it's not cloaked by the posting behavior of thousands of other users.
• For SocialOomph the benefit is that erroneous deactivation of personal profiles, deactivation of or restrictions imposed on a WordPress.com application, and undesireable posting behavior by one user does not affect our entire user base.