Instagram Following List API

Instagram Following List

Features

• Batch source usernamesSubmit one or more public Instagram usernames in a single task, without the leading @ character.
• Relationship provenanceKeep source_username, relationship, and position in extra so every profile can be traced to its source account.
• Normalized profile identityReceive profile ID, username, display name, canonical profile URL, avatar, and public verification or privacy signals when available.
• Visible account metricsUse returned follower, following, and post counts when those public values are present in the collected record.
• Asynchronous result pagingSubmit collection work outside the request thread, poll task status, and page through normalized results with next_cursor.

Parameters

How to Use

Submit public usernames as an asynchronous task, poll the returned task ID, then read normalized following profiles with cursor pagination.

1. Prepare one or more public Instagram usernames without the leading @ character.
2. POST usernames and an optional results_limit from 1 to 2,000 to /v1/instagram/following-list.
3. Poll /v1/tasks/{task_id} until the status is succeeded or failed.
4. Read /v1/tasks/{task_id}?limit=50 and continue with results.next_cursor when has_more is true.

curl -X POST "https://api.socq.ai/v1/instagram/following-list" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOCQ_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"usernames":["instagram"],"results_limit":100}'

# Poll GET /v1/tasks/{task_id}
# Read GET /v1/tasks/{task_id}?limit=50 and follow data.results.next_cursor

Best Use Cases

• Creator network mapping: Build reviewable maps of which public creators, publishers, and organizations selected accounts follow.
• Brand account research: Compare visible following relationships across brand, campaign, regional, or competitor accounts.
• Partnership discovery: Identify public profiles that appear in the following lists of accounts relevant to a partnership program.
• Profile directory enrichment: Add canonical URLs, display names, avatars, account signals, and relationship provenance to internal directories.
• Relationship change tracking: Store timestamped snapshots and compare stable profile IDs across runs to review additions or removals.

Pro Tips

• Remove the leading @ from every username before submission; the provider input is normalized to plain usernames.
• Start with a focused results_limit and increase it only when the workflow needs a larger visible relationship set.
• Store profile ID together with extra.source_username because the same followed profile may appear for multiple source accounts.
• Treat missing avatars, account metrics, verification signals, or positions as normal variability in public results.
• Design for empty or partial results because private, restricted, removed, or login-only relationships are outside the supported boundary.

Related APIs