2.2. Facebook

Here we introduce tools for gathering information from Facebook. We have also listed some tools that are subject to a fee.

Free-to-use tools for Facebook

1. FacePager software for querying Facebook page data (by Jakob Jünger)
   1. Facepager is an easy-access tool for beginners, the program has simple presets for users that are starting with the program. 
   2. Can be used to fetch data for example from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Amazon.
   3. The user can fetch for example posts, comments, reactions or photos.
   4. No need for coding. The program provides .csv-files that can be then converted into Excel.
   5. "Facepager user group" on Facebook provides answer for user questions, help available also on the Facepager GitHub-page. There are also several videos that guide the user on YouTube, just type "Facepager" on the search.
   6.  Added: 18.11.2021. Verified: 16.11.2023
2. CrowdTangle is the official route to public Facebook data at the moment:
   1. FB-owned media monitoring service that offers access to public pages and group posts also for academics. 
   2. Access is granted by an application, an affiliation to higher education institution is needed, and there are currently requirements related to the topics studied. See details here. 
   3. Note that you can only access posts in quantities, not the comments.
   4. Keyword searches not well supported, but works well if you know the accounts you wish to follow. CT offers different tools to filter and organize the data and the observe it visually.
   5. Added: 18.11.2021. Verified: 16.11.2023
3. Digital Footprints (Aarhus University) (not working at the moment)
   • Software made by Aarhus University which allows the collection of closed Facebook data with user consent
   • Necessary for applying for a research project
   • Available to all academic institutions
   • Added: 18.11.2021. Verified: 16.11.2023 (saying resource not available)
4. InfoExtractor
   • Extract relevant information from various sources such as blogs, Youtube etc.
   • In 2023 the page says, the project is not updated anymore
   • Added: 18.11.2021. Verified: 16.11.2023
5. Social Network Importer for NodeXL
   •  An add-in social media network graph data provider for NodeXL which allow users to directly download and import a variety of Facebook Fan Page and Group networks
   • Added: 18.11.2021. Verified: ?
6. Facebook Ad Library
   • The Ad Library is a place where you can search for ads that are running across Facebook Products. You can use it to get information about the ads you see.
   • Facebook stores the advertisements in this library for seven years.
   • Added: 18.11.2021. Verified: ?
7. Export Comments
   • Exports comments from public pages (100 comments free of charge)
   • Added: 18.11.2021. Verified: 16.11.2023 (not working though

Subject to a charge

1. Discovertext
2. Legentic/Mohawk offers rather comprehensive access to Finnish language FB page data