Social Media Data Hub
Use Apify to collect social media data from TikTok, Instagram, X/Twitter, and YouTube through one consistent workflow.
Core Capabilities
- Profile lookup - Retrieve profile metadata such as follower count, content volume, and bio.
- Bulk post retrieval - Pull recent or popular posts for an account together with engagement metrics.
- Single-post lookup - Input a post URL and return a normalized record with key metrics.
- Comment retrieval - Fetch comment threads for a supported post URL.
- Cross-platform normalization - Map all supported platforms into one shared schema for analysis.
Actor Mapping
| Platform | Actor ID | Purpose |
|---|
| TikTok | clockworks/tiktok-scraper | Profiles, posts, comments |
| Instagram | apify/instagram-scraper | Profiles, posts, comments |
| X/Twitter (bulk) | apidojo/tweet-scraper | Bulk tweet retrieval (50+ items) |
| X/Twitter (precise) | apidojo/twitter-scraper-lite | Single tweet, conversation, or small batches |
| YouTube | streamers/youtube-scraper | Channels and videos |
Usage
All scripts live under {baseDir}/scripts/, are executed with python3, and return JSON.
Profile Lookup
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_profile.py --platform tiktok --username "khaby.lame"
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_profile.py --platform instagram --username "natgeo"
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_profile.py --platform twitter --username "elonmusk"
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_profile.py --platform youtube --channel-url "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast"
Bulk Post Retrieval
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_posts.py --platform tiktok --username "khaby.lame" --count 20
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_posts.py --platform instagram --username "natgeo" --count 30
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_posts.py --platform twitter --username "elonmusk" --count 100
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_posts.py --platform youtube --channel-url "https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast" --count 50
Single-Post Lookup
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_single_post.py --url "https://www.tiktok.com/@user/video/123456"
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_single_post.py --url "https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123/"
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_single_post.py --url "https://x.com/user/status/123456"
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_single_post.py --url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABC123"
Comment Retrieval
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_comments.py --url "https://www.tiktok.com/@user/video/123456" --count 50
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_comments.py --url "https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123/" --count 30
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/fetch_comments.py --url "https://x.com/user/status/123456" --count 100
Cross-Platform Normalization
normalize.py is used internally by the fetch scripts and can also be run directly:
echo '<raw_json>' | python3 {baseDir}/scripts/normalize.py --platform tiktok --type post
Unified Data Model
Normalized Post (NormalizedPost)
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|
platform | string | tiktok / instagram / twitter / youtube |
post_id | string | Platform-native post ID |
post_url | string | Post URL |
text | string | Caption, text body, or title |
created_at | string | ISO 8601 timestamp |
author_name | string | Author username |
author_display_name | string | Display name |
likes | int | Like count |
comments | int | Comment count |
shares | int | Share or repost count, or null |
views | int | View count, play count, or null |
saves | int | Save or bookmark count, or null |
hashtags | list | Hashtag list |
media_type | string | video / image / text / carousel |
Normalized Profile (NormalizedProfile)
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|
platform | string | Platform identifier |
username | string | Username or handle |
display_name | string | Display name |
bio | string | Biography or profile summary |
followers | int | Follower count |
following | int | Following count, or null |
posts_count | int | Total content count, or null |
profile_url | string | Profile URL |
verified | bool | Verification status |
Cost Reference (BRONZE Tier)
| Operation | TikTok | Instagram | X/Twitter | YouTube |
|---|
| Per post | $0.003 | $0.0023 | $0.0004 | $0.003 |
| Bulk 1K items | $3.00 | $2.30 | $0.40 | $3.00 |
| Single-item lookup | ~$0.50 (minimum charge) | $0.0023 | $0.05 | $0.003 |
See {baseDir}/references/apify_actors_reference.md for actor inputs, selection guidance, and pricing details.
Notes
- TikTok has a $0.50 minimum per run, so bulk retrieval is usually more cost-effective than single-item lookups.
- For X/Twitter, use
tweet-scraper when you need 50 or more items and twitter-scraper-lite for smaller batches or single tweets.
- Instagram comments are limited to 50 comments per post.
- YouTube comments are not handled by these scripts; use a dedicated YouTube Comments Scraper actor instead.
- All scripts call the Apify REST API directly and do not rely on the
apify-client SDK.
