Guide to Facebook profiles data

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

All of the examples in this document 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 profile node.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`Q` Optional	String	Keyword(s) to search for. Searches a profile's `name` and `intro` fields. See Advanced search guidelines for information about how multiple keyword searches with Boolean operators are handled.
`FIELDS` Optional	List	Comma-separated list of profile fields you want included in search results. See Data dictionary for descriptions of all available fields.
`CATEGORIES` Optional	List	Comma-separated list of categories to include in the search.
`IS_VERIFIED` Optional	Boolean	The verification status of the Facebook profile. A Facebook profile with a verified badge indicates that Facebook has confirmed that it is the authentic presence for that person or brand. Learn more.
`WEBSITE` Optional	String	Website to match against the Facebook profile's "About" section.
`PROFILE_IDS` Optional	List	Comma-separated list of Meta Content Library profile IDs as strings. Limits the query to the specified profiles. Maximum of 250 IDs.
`ADMIN_COUNTRIES` Optional	List	Comma-separated list of countries by which to filter the Facebook profile's admin. Takes ISO Alpha-2 Country Code in 2-letter uppercase format.
`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 profiles 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 profile. 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 profiles 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 profile. 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 profile by keyword

To search for profiles that contain a specific use the get() method with 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_profiles",
        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_profiles",
    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 specific fields on any profiles 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$get(
        path = "search/facebook_profiles",
        params = list("q" = "cybercrime", 'fields' = "id,name")
)
jsonlite::fromJSON(response$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_profiles",
        params={q="cybercrime", 'fields':"id,name"}
)
display(response.json()) # Display first page

Search for profiles by profile ID

To search for profiles with specific profile IDs (obtained from the results of previous profile searches), use get() method with the profile_ids parameter.

response <- client$get(
       path = "search/facebook_profiles", 
       params = list("page_ids" = list('755732639815385'), 'fields' = "id,name")
)
jsonlite::fromJSON(response$text, flatten=TRUE) # Display first page

response = client.get(
        path="search/facebook_profiles", 
        params={"profile_ids":['755732639815385'], 'fields':"id,name"}
)
display(response.json())