Guide to Facebook groups data

You can perform Facebook group searches by calling the Meta Content Library API client get() method with the search/facebook_groups path. This document describes the parameters, and shows how to perform basic queries by using the method.

All of the examples in this document are taken from a Researcher Platform use case and assume you have already created a Python or R Jupyter notebook and have created a client object. See Getting started to learn more.

See Data dictionary for detailed information about the fields that are available on a Facebook group node.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`Q` Optional	String	Keyword(s) to search for. See Advanced search guidelines for information about how multiple keyword searches with Boolean operators are handled.
`FIELDS` Optional	List	A comma-separated list of group fields you want included in search results. See Data dictionary for descriptions of all available fields.
`SORT` Optional	Enum	Sort mode specifying the order in which the groups are returned (only available for synchronous searches). Available options: `newest_to_oldest`: Groups are returned in reverse chronological order (newest first). `most_to_least_member_count`: Groups are returned based on the number of active members (most members first). Default: `most_to_least_member_count` Note: Searches conducted in versions earlier than 5.0 had responses sorted in newest-to-oldest order by default. To achieve that same order, you must now specify `newest_to_oldest` with the `sort` parameter in your query.
`GROUP_IDS` Optional	List	A comma-separated list of Meta Content Library group IDs as strings. Limits the query to groups in the list. Maximum of 250 IDs.
`SINCE` Optional	String or Integer	Date in YYYY-MM-DD (date only) or UNIX timestamp (translates to a date and time to the second) format. Facebook groups created on or after this date or timestamp are returned (used with UNTIL to define a time range). SINCE and UNTIL are based on UTC time zone, regardless of the local time zone of the user who created the group. If both SINCE and UNTIL are included, the search includes the time range defined by those values. If SINCE is included and UNTIL is omitted, the search includes the SINCE time through the present time. If SINCE is omitted and UNTIL is included, the search goes from the beginning of Facebook time through the UNTIL time. If SINCE and UNTIL are both omitted, the search goes from the beginning of Facebook time to the present time. If SINCE and UNTIL are the same UNIX timestamp, the search includes the SINCE time through the SINCE time plus one hour. If SINCE and UNTIL are the same Date (YYYY-MM-DD), the search includes the SINCE date through the SINCE date plus one day.
`UNTIL` Optional	String or Integer	Date in YYYY-MM-DD (date only) or UNIX timestamp (translates to a date and time to the second) format. Facebook groups created on or before this date or timestamp are returned (used with SINCE to define a time range). SINCE and UNTIL are based on UTC time zone, regardless of the local time zone of the user who created the group. If both SINCE and UNTIL are included, the search includes the time range defined by those values. If SINCE is included and UNTIL is omitted, the search includes the SINCE time through the present time. If SINCE is omitted and UNTIL is included, the search goes from the beginning of Facebook time through the UNTIL time. If SINCE and UNTIL are both omitted, the search goes from the beginning of Facebook time to the present time. If SINCE and UNTIL are the same UNIX timestamp, the search includes the SINCE time through the SINCE time plus one hour. If SINCE and UNTIL are the same Date (YYYY-MM-DD), the search includes the SINCE date through the SINCE date plus one day.

Sample queries

Search for groups by keyword

To search for public groups that contain specific keywords, use the q parameter. See Advanced search guidelines for information about how multiple keyword searches are handled.

library(reticulate)
client <- import("metacontentlibraryapi")$MetaContentLibraryAPIClient

client$set_default_version(client$LATEST_VERSION)

response <- client$get(
        path = "search/facebook_groups", 
        params = list('q' = "cybercrime")
)
jsonlite::fromJSON(response$text, flatten=TRUE) # Display first page


# Fetch next page
if (client$has_next_page(response)) {
    response <- client$query_next_page(response)
    jsonlite::fromJSON(response$text, flatten=TRUE) # Display second page
}

from metacontentlibraryapi import MetaContentLibraryAPIClient as client

client.set_default_version(client.LATEST_VERSION)

response = client.get(
    path="search/facebook_groups",
    params={
      "q": "cybercrime"
    })
display(response.json()) # Display first page

# Fetch next page
if client.has_next_page(response):
    response = client.query_next_page(response)
    display(response.json()) # Display second page

You can use the query_next_page() and has_next_page() to get the next page of 10 results until all the results have been returned. See Search guide for other display and storage options.

Request specific fields

To have the API return only specific fields on any groups in the response, include the fields parameter and a comma-separated list of fields you want included. If omitted, default fields will be returned.

library(reticulate)
client <- import("metacontentlibraryapi")$MetaContentLibraryAPIClient

client$set_default_version(client$LATEST_VERSION)

response <- client$get(
        path = "search/facebook_groups", 
        params = list("q" = "cybercrime", 'fields' = "id,name")
)
jsonlite::fromJSON(response$text, flatten=TRUE) # Display first page

from metacontentlibraryapi import MetaContentLibraryAPIClient as client

client.set_default_version(client.LATEST_VERSION)

response = client.get(
       path="search/facebook_groups", 
       params={'q'="cybercrime", 'fields':"id,name"})
display(response.json()) # Display first page

Search for groups by group ID

You can search for Facebook groups using specific group IDs obtained from previous group searches.

To get data on specific Facebook groups that contain specific keywords or phrases, create a search object using the get() method with the q parameter (specifying the keywords or phrases) and the group_ids parameter (specifying the list of group IDs you want included). If you omit the q argument, all groups in the list of IDs are included, not just those with a specific keyword or phrase.

# Search for specific IDs and display specific fields 
response <- client$get(
        path = "search/facebook_groups", 
        params = list("group_ids" = list('753110959566351'), 'fields' = "id,name")
)

jsonlite::fromJSON(response$text, flatten=TRUE) # Display first page

# Search for specific IDs and display specific fields 
response = client.get(
       path="search/facebook_groups", 
       params={"group_ids":['753110959566351'], 'fields':"id,name"}
)

display(response.json())