Scraping, collecting and analyzing data from Threads is very interesting. It’s a great place to stay up to date, learn about current trends and about your audience’s interests
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has officially launched Threads, its latest social media platform, on Wednesday, July 5th. Threads is poised to directly compete with Twitter, offering users a similar concept and experience.
On Threads, users can share their thoughts, anecdotes, opinions, and more through short texts limited to a maximum of 500 characters. Additionally, they have the option to include links, photos, or videos, with a maximum duration of 5 minutes, to enrich their posts. Interactions with content on Threads mirror familiar features found on other platforms: users can like posts, “repost” them (similar to retweeting on Twitter), share them with friends, and leave comments.
The feed on Threads displays posts from users that individuals follow, but it also introduces a discovery element by presenting content from “new creators” yet to be explored. This feature aims to enhance the user experience and introduce them to diverse and engaging content.
As of its initial launch, Threads does not support ActivityPub, the open standard for decentralized social networks established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Nevertheless, Meta plans to incorporate ActivityPub support in the future, enabling interoperability with other platforms that adhere to this protocol, such as Mastodon or WordPress.
With Threads joining the social media landscape, it promises an exciting new avenue for users to connect, share, and engage with content in concise and interactive ways. While it has already been introduced in several countries, further expansion to regions like France and the broader European Union is anticipated.
Threads Scraper
ScrapingBot has a Threads scraper, built to scrape and collect public data from Threads profiles.
Get the data you want in JSON, without any blocking.
Example of the data you can collect:
- Threads profiles:
Username, name, profile image, biography, external URL, like, followers, verified status, posts, number of likes per post, number of replies per post
How to start scraping Threads?
ScrapingBot is here to help you scrape Threads profiles as easily and efficiently as possible.
Start scraping Threads in 3 steps:
1. Create an account
Want to start scraping Instagram right now? No problem, ScrapingBot offers FREE access with 100 credits per month to get started. No payment information required, and no any engagement.
If you already have an account, just log in.
2. Configure your scraping
Once your account has been created, go to Documentation, to the “Data Scraper API” section to be able to start scraping what you want.
Setting up the endpoint is a two-step process with two API calls.
It’s a little longer than usual because social networks have many protections to avoid robots and get scraped. These two calls make it possible to recover the data without being blocked.
Step 1 : Get your Response ID
First, you must make a first POST request to get the ResponseID which will be used later.
To do this, you must enter the following parameters in the body, then run a first API call:
- scraper
(“threadsProfile” to scrape Threads profiles) - url
Add the URL of the Threads profile you want to scrape
Here is the Request Endpoint:
http://api.scraping-bot.io/scrape/data-scraper
Step 2 : Configure your second request
Now that you have your responseId, you will be able to configure a GET request to ask for the response.
Here is the Response Endpoint:
http://api.scraping-bot.io/scrape/data-scraper-response?responseId=xxxx&scraper=name
Complete the Response Endpoint with these parameters:
- responseId
Insert here the Response ID that you had with the POST API call - scraper
You must fill in the same as that used previously for the POST API call (“ThreadsProfile”)
When it’s ready, execute the API call. The result you will get will tell you if the scraping is ready to use or not.
If it’s not, you will get this pending message:
{status: "pending", message: "Scraping is not finished for this request, try again in a few"}In this case, you have to try again until it’s ready.
3. Let’s scraping!
Your web scraping setup is now ready to use!
You can start collecting data from Threads Profiles.
NB: If you need more help, a sample code to execute the call to this API is available in the documentation right here (“Data Scraper API” section).
A social network linked to Instagram
The first thread posted by the app’s account emphasized the connection with Instagram and welcomed users with a sense of familiarity: “You found us! If you use Instagram, some parts of this app will probably feel familiar to you. We are here to create a positive and creative space for you to express your ideas. This time, it’s all about conversation.”
Functionally, Threads operates in direct sync with Instagram, allowing users to log in using their existing Instagram accounts, retaining their usernames and contacts. This approach ensures a substantial user base right from the app’s launch. And the results speak for themselves! Since July 10th, Threads has achieved an impressive milestone, surpassing 100 million users a remarkable record of growth!
Why is Threads not available in Europe?
Threads is currently not available in Europe due to geoblocking, which prevents users from downloading the app from standard platforms like the Play Store or the App Store in European countries. This restriction might be attributed to the stricter European regulations regarding the collection and use of personal data compared to the United States.
The European Union has implemented stringent data protection laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which imposes strict rules on how companies collect, store, and process personal data of EU residents. Companies operating in Europe must comply with these regulations, which can sometimes result in delays or limitations in the launch of certain apps or services that handle user data.
To make Threads available in Europe, Meta may need to ensure that the app complies with all relevant data protection regulations in the region before lifting the geoblock and making it accessible to European users.