Search code examples
instagraminstagram-api

How do I get the number of Followers gained and lost during a selected time range from Instagram API?


I need to get number of Followers gained and lost or just the total followers during a selected time range.

For example: if I send a request to: https://api.instagram.com/v1/users/3/ I will get this Json:

{
    "data": 
    {
        "username": "kevin",
        "bio": "CEO & Co-founder of Instagram",
        "website": "",
        "profile_picture": "https://instagramimages-a.akamaihd.net/profiles/profile_3_75sq_1325536697.jpg",
        "full_name": "Kevin Systrom",
        "counts":  {
            "media": 1419,
            "followed_by": 1138347,
            "follows": 643
    },
    "id": "3"
  }

But I can't get the "followed_by" for a select time range

I read the Instagram api documentation and I can't find anywhere a Endpoint to do a request that I want.

in MEDIA I can pass MIN_TIMESTAMP and MAX_TIMESTAMP as parameters, but I am not looking for medias, I am looking for the number of followers.

I know It's possible because there is a website https://minter.io that gets every information since the beginning of the account.

PS: I already have the Authentication with OAuth 2.0


Solution

  • There is no API to do this, I think you have to keep a track of your follower count and update it every day. Setup a cron job to do this via API.

    I just tried minter.io, I dont know how they show followers from day 1, I can definitely tell u it is fake and not accurate, I had about 1400 followers at some point and I removed them few months ago, so its back to 200 something, and minter.io does not show this at all. I think they just show a fake linear graph for historical data and going forward they keep a track of followers every day.