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Instagram Public brings publicly visible profile and post data for Instagram Business or Professional accounts that are not owned by the connecting workspace. Connecting it supports competitive monitoring, brand-mention tracking, and influencer analytics, where credentials on the monitored accounts are neither possible nor required. Public data is retrieved through the Instagram Graph API Business Discovery endpoint. A Facebook account that administers at least one Page with a linked Instagram Business account acts as the discovery hub; the monitored handles themselves authorize nothing. Business Discovery returns daily snapshots of profile and post metrics rather than a historical time series.

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Before you connect

The following are required:
  • A Facebook account with at least one administered Page.
  • A Page with a connected Instagram Business or Professional account, to act as the Business Discovery hub. A personal Instagram account cannot serve as the hub.
  • The Instagram usernames of the public Business or Professional accounts to be monitored.
  • Permission to authorize third-party apps on the Facebook account.

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Connect Instagram Public

1

Select Instagram Public

On the Data Sources page, search for Instagram Public and select it.
2

Authorize through Facebook

Sign in with the Facebook account and approve the requested Page-access scopes when redirected. Facebook shows the exact scope list on the consent screen.
3

Select the discovery Page

Choose a Facebook Page from the administered list. The selected Page must have a connected Instagram Business or Professional account.
4

Add monitored handles

Enter one or more public Instagram usernames to track. Each handle becomes a monitored target on the data source.
5

Select metrics and breakdowns

Choose from profile-level snapshots, such as follower count, follows, and media count, and post-level metrics, such as likes, comments, captions, and media URLs.
6

Save the connection

Click Save to start the initial import. Snapshots begin accumulating on the first refresh after each handle is added.

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What gets imported

The connector imports profile-level snapshots (follower count, follows, media count, biography, website) and post-level metrics (likes, comments, captions, media URLs, permalinks) as daily snapshots for each monitored handle. Business Discovery returns snapshot figures rather than a historical time series, so values accumulate from the day a handle is added. For the complete list of metrics and breakdowns, see the Instagram Public data reference.

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Troubleshooting

The Business Discovery endpoint must be called as a connected Instagram Business account. The authorizing Facebook account needs at least one administered Page with a linked Instagram Business or Professional account. Personal Instagram accounts cannot act as the discovery hub.
Business Discovery resolves only public Business or Professional accounts. Personal accounts, private accounts, and basic creator accounts are not accessible. Verify the target account type before adding the handle.
Facebook long-lived tokens become permanently invalid after 60 days without API activity, and no automatic refresh occurs. Reauthorize the data source to restore the connection.
No historical back-fill is available. Profile and post counts begin accumulating on the first refresh after a handle is added.

Instagram Public data reference

Metrics, breakdowns, and limits for Instagram Public.

Instagram Public FAQs

Common questions and expected behaviors for the Instagram Public data source.

How to connect Instagram Organic

Connect Instagram accounts the workspace directly administers.

How to connect Facebook Page Public

Monitor public Facebook Pages using the same OAuth grant.