Real People, Or A Bot Farm?

"Every comment is a fire emoji and three words. Is any of this real?"

A pod looks perfect from the outside. Big comment counts, fast replies, engagement rate that beats every creator you can afford. What gives it away is not one comment - it is the same handles turning up under post after post, and no snapshot of a single post can see that.

We read across their posts, not down one. You get which commenters keep reappearing, how much of the thread is three words and an emoji, whether the people commenting look like accounts or like an audience, and how the mix has moved since we started watching.

What comes back reads like this:

"41% of the comments on @creator's last 6 posts came from the same 28 accounts. Those accounts comment on each other too. Strip them out and the engagement rate falls from 6.2% to 1.9%."

That last number is the one that decides whether you pay them.

⬇️ Input

The actor accepts an array of Instagram handles or post shortcodes, maximum comment depth, and an optional proxy configuration.

{
  "handles": [
    "nike",
    "gymshark",
    "natgeo"
  ],
  "maxComments": 50
}

Input Parameters

Field	Type	Default	Description
handles	Array	["nike", "gymshark", "natgeo"]	An Instagram handle to read across their recent posts, or a post link to read just that one.
maxComments	Integer	50	Maximum comments to analyze per creator account or post.
proxyConfiguration	Object	null	Optional proxy settings to rotate exit IPs per request.

⬆️ Output

Every processed comment outputs a structured record to the default dataset.

Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
commentPk	String	Stable per-row identifier. Instagram comment primary key ID.
username	String	Instagram creator handle associated with post.
shortcode	String	Instagram post shortcode identifier.
commentText	String	Comment text body.
commentAuthor	String	Username of the commenter.
commentAuthorRepeatRate	Number	Share of comments originating from repeat authors across creator posts (engagement pod signal).
genericCommentShare	Number	Share of single-word or emoji-only comments indicating automated bot behavior.
commenterAccountAge	String	Estimated commenter account age band.
commentToLikeRatio	Number	Ratio of total comments to likes on post.
computedStatus	Object	Status object with observation evidence and calculation notes.
scrapedAt	String	ISO timestamp of data collection.

Worked Output Example

{
  "commentPk": "ig_cmt_nike_1_1770000000000",
  "username": "nike",
  "shortcode": null,
  "commentText": "Love this design!",
  "commentAuthor": "alex_runner",
  "commentAuthorRepeatRate": 0.125,
  "genericCommentShare": 0.25,
  "commenterAccountAge": "observed account (>90d)",
  "commentToLikeRatio": 0.018,
  "computedStatus": {
    "totalBatchSize": 4,
    "repeatAuthorCount": 0,
    "genericCommentCount": 1,
    "reason": "evidence computed across observed comment batch"
  },
  "scrapedAt": "2026-08-05T16:30:00.000Z"
}

How it works

1. Comment Payload Extraction: Reads post comment data via guest HTTP without mandatory proxy spend.
2. Pod & Bot Detection: Calculates author co-occurrence across comments and identifies single-word or emoji-only bot patterns.
3. Evidence Reporting: Ships calculated ratio metrics alongside raw comment records to support client campaign reviews.

❓ FAQ

How does this actor spot engagement pods?

Engagement pods rely on reciprocal comment groups. The actor tracks author repeat rates and comment-to-like ratios to flag accounts whose comments come from the same recurring group.

Can this actor run on Apify without payload bodies?

Yes. If an API request contains no input body (such as automated health checks), the actor falls back to prefilled reference accounts to guarantee successful output.

Does this actor require account login?

No. Comment payloads are collected directly over guest HTTP without account login credentials.

💬 Your feedback

Need custom comment classification thresholds, pod network graphing, or reporting integrations? Contact reapxdev@proton.me.

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Unofficial - not affiliated with Instagram. Collects only data visible without logging in. reapx · reapx.dev · reapxdev@proton.me