FAQs

Answers to common questions about how the Instagram Organic data source behaves, why certain numbers look the way they do, and how to work around platform constraints.

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Why don’t my story metrics show up?

Story metrics sync only when the data source is connected through Facebook Login. Under Instagram Login, stories are not synced at all, and a few cross-surface reel metrics (crossposted views, Facebook views) are also unavailable. If story rows are missing, the first thing to check is which login mode the connection uses. Facebook Login also has to meet two conditions for stories to sync: the authorizing account must be an administrator on the linked Facebook Page, and that account must have two-factor authentication enabled. When those conditions aren’t met, story sync can’t be set up. Two timing behaviors are worth knowing. Story performance is captured after a story expires, so an active story may appear only partially until then. Stories that expired before the connection existed cannot be fetched. For the full list of story metrics, see the Instagram Organic data reference.

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Why can’t I break post engagement down by age or gender?

Age, gender, country, and city are audience breakdowns, not post breakdowns. Selecting any of them returns only the lifetime follower count for each bucket — post-level metrics such as likes, comments, saves, and reach are removed from the report. This is a Meta API constraint: the platform does not expose post engagement split by follower demographics. To analyze how individual posts performed, use the post-level breakdowns instead — for example post, post type, or post date. To analyze audience makeup, use a demographic breakdown on its own and read the follower counts. The two cannot be combined in a single report. See the Instagram Organic data reference for the available breakdowns.

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Why is my follower history empty before I connected?

Follower count and audience demographics have no historical backfill. They are stored as daily snapshots that begin on the day the data source is first connected, so there is no follower history for dates before that. The longer the data source stays connected, the more of this daily history accumulates in the cache. Post-level data behaves differently. On first connection, Adriel imports posts created within roughly the last three years, but only their lifetime totals are available — there are no historical daily values for those older posts. Daily values also build up from the connection date forward. For the exact import windows and refresh schedule, see the Instagram Organic data reference.

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Why do some story numbers show as blank or -1?

Meta suppresses low story counts for privacy. When a story metric — such as views, reach, replies, or a navigation tap — is below 5, Meta returns -1 instead of the real figure, which can surface as a blank or a -1 in the widget. This is expected platform behavior, not a sync failure. Once the underlying count reaches 5 or more, the real value appears.

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Why are some of my day-over-day numbers negative?

Daily change (delta) metrics can occasionally come back negative because of how Meta calculates lifetime post performance. Two things drive it: reported figures can arrive with a delay of up to 48 hours, and Meta periodically corrects performance to account for bots, banned accounts, or inactive users. When a correction lowers a lifetime total, the day-over-day difference for that day can be negative. This is expected and settles as the figures stabilize.

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Should I use Instagram Organic or Instagram Public?

It depends on whose account is being measured. Instagram Organic reports on an account the connecting user owns or administers, and it requires an authenticated login. It provides the full organic picture — account and post performance, reels, stories (under Facebook Login), and follower demographics. Instagram Public reads only publicly available data about other professional accounts and does not require ownership or admin access, which makes it the choice for competitor and benchmark analysis. For that use case, see the Instagram Public data reference.

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Common issues

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