Weibo Scraper — Posts, Profiles, Fans, Followers & Search 📱

🎉 Five scrapers in one — extract Weibo posts, user profiles, fans, followers, and date-ranged keyword search from Sina Weibo

Built for China-market researchers, KOL agencies, brand monitoring teams, and journalists who need clean structured Weibo data — no Weibo developer account, no API key, no setup headaches

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📋 Overview

Tired of brittle DIY Weibo scrapers that break every time Sina ships an interface tweak? This actor delivers reliable, flat structured datasets from China's biggest microblog (550M+ MAU) — one clean run per task, one tidy dataset out.

Why teams choose SIÁN for Weibo data:

• ✅ Five operations, one actor: Weibo detail · user profile · user fans · user followers · keyword search
• 🌐 The only Weibo actor on Apify with full social graph extraction — competitors stop at posts and profiles; we expose fan and follower lists
• 📅 Date-range search — track how a topic surged or faded across weeks (rivals search current only)
• 🎯 Production-ready data shape: curated camelCase aliases (weiboId, userId, screenName, repostCount, attitudeCount, text, postedAt…) PLUS the raw upstream fields for power users
• 💰 Pay-per-result pricing — only charged for successful extractions, never for empty pages or errors
• 💎 No Weibo account, no API key, no proxies — paste a post ID, UID, or keyword and run
• ✨ NEW: 16-digit Weibo post IDs preserved at full precision (most scrapers silently corrupt them); HTTPS auto-normalized on every avatar, cover, and picture URL

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✨ Features

• 📝 Weibo Detail: full post by ID with 50+ fields — text, location, topics, @-mentions, repost/comment/attitude (like) counts, attached pictures, creator info, posting client, region
• 👤 User Profile: full profile by UID — followers, following, statuses count, verification reason, location, gender, bio, membership tier, avatar set, cover image
• 👥 User Fans: list of accounts that follow a target user (~20 per page, respects Weibo privacy settings)
• ➡️ User Followers: list of accounts a target user follows (~20 per page, respects Weibo privacy settings)
• 🔍 Search Weibo: keyword search with optional start/end date (defaults to last 30 days), ~14 posts/page, Chinese/English/mixed queries supported
• 🖼️ HTTPS-normalized URLs: every avatar, cover, picture, embedded video URL ready to embed
• 🆔 BigInt-safe IDs: 16-digit Weibo post IDs preserved (no precision loss → no broken cross-operation joins)
• 🔁 Auto-retry transient failures: HTTP 502/503/504 and upstream code 301 retried with exponential backoff
• 📄 Pagination cap: stream through up to 50 pages per run with one input parameter
• 📊 HTML run report: saved automatically to key-value store with success rate, errors, duration, inputs

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🎬 Quick Start

Paste a Weibo keyword to find trending Chinese conversations — no Weibo developer account or Sina API required.

curl -X POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/sian.agency~weibo-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN \
-d '{"operation":"searchWeibo","keyword":"北京","maxPages":3}'

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🚀 Getting Started (3 Simple Steps)

Step 1: Pick an operation

Choose what you want to extract: Search Weibo, Weibo Detail, User Profile, User Fans, or User Followers.

Step 2: Enter the input

A keyword (search), a Weibo post ID (detail), or a user UID (profile / fans / followers).

Step 3: Click "Start"

Results stream into the Apify dataset as they come back. Download as JSON, CSV, or Excel directly from the Console.

That's it! In under 60 seconds, you'll have:

• A flat, structured dataset (no nested Weibo card JSON to parse)
• Curated camelCase fields plus the raw response for power users
• An HTML report summarizing the run
• Ready-to-embed HTTPS media URLs (avatars, pictures, covers)

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📥 Input Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
operation	string (enum)	Yes	One of: weiboDetail · userDetail · userFans · userFollowers · searchWeibo
weiboId	string	If operation is weiboDetail	Numeric Weibo post ID (also called mid). Find it in any https://m.weibo.cn/detail/{ID} URL or in any search result's weiboId field.
userId	string	If operation is userDetail, userFans, or userFollowers	Numeric Weibo user ID (UID). Find it in any https://weibo.com/u/{ID} URL or in any result row's userId field.
keyword	string	If operation is searchWeibo	Search query (Chinese, English, or mixed — e.g. 北京, Tesla, 美食)
startDay	string	No (search only)	Earliest date YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to 30 days ago.
endDay	string	No (search only)	Latest date YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to today.
maxPages	integer	No	Pages to fetch for paginated operations (default 5, max 50)

Example — Search trending Weibo posts:

{
  "operation": "searchWeibo",
  "keyword": "iPhone",
  "startDay": "2026-04-12",
  "endDay": "2026-05-12",
  "maxPages": 3
}

Example — Map a creator's fan network:

{
  "operation": "userFans",
  "userId": "2760523085",
  "maxPages": 5
}

Example — Get full Weibo post details by ID:

{
  "operation": "weiboDetail",
  "weiboId": "5249718969175092"
}

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📤 Output

Results are saved to the Apify dataset with 40+ curated fields plus all raw upstream fields. Filter by _operation to split modes; three predefined dataset views ready to open in Apify Console (Overview / Posts / Users).

Field	Type	Description
weiboId	string	Weibo post ID (16-digit, precision preserved)
bid	string	Base-62 short post ID
weiboPageUrl	string	Direct link to the mobile Weibo post page
text	string	Post body (Chinese / English / mixed)
textLength	integer	Character count of post text
isLongText	boolean	True if long-form (>140 char) post
postedAt	string	Upload timestamp (RFC-2822 style)
repostCount	integer	Reposts (转发)
commentCount	integer	Comments (评论)
attitudeCount	integer	Likes (点赞)
regionName	string	Region the post was made from
source	string	Client app used to post
topics	array	Hashtag / topic entities
atUsers	array	@-mention entities
picCount	integer	Number of attached pictures
picUrls	array	All attached picture URLs
videoUrl	string	Embedded video URL (if any)
userId	string	Creator's Weibo UID
screenName	string	Creator's display name
verified	boolean	Verified badge
verifiedReason	string	Verification description
followersCount	integer	Followers / fans (profile rows)
friendsCount	integer	Following count (profile rows)
statusesCount	integer	Total post count (profile rows)
gender	string	Self-reported gender (profile rows)
location	string	Self-reported location (profile rows)
description	string	Profile bio (profile rows)
avatarUrl	string	Profile picture HD (HTTPS)
userPageUrl	string	Direct link to Weibo profile page

Example dataset row (search Weibo):

{
  "_operation": "searchWeibo",
  "_sourceKeyword": "Tesla",
  "weiboId": "5297759758582315",
  "bid": "QkRpSCuRm",
  "userId": "2008330545",
  "screenName": "KeepItMelloMachine_",
  "text": "New Tesla Supercharger: Taoyuan, Yangmei, Taiwan - Sanyuan St…",
  "repostCount": 0,
  "commentCount": 0,
  "attitudeCount": 0,
  "postedAt": "2026-05-12 11:17:33",
  "weiboPageUrl": "https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5297759758582315",
  "userPageUrl": "https://weibo.com/u/2008330545",
  "status": "success"
}

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💼 Use Cases & Examples

1. KOL & Influencer Discovery for Chinese Brands

Influencer marketing teams at brands launching in China shortlisting Weibo KOLs.

Input: Search Weibo with keyword "美妆" (beauty) or "数码" (digital), then User Profile on top creators Output: 14 posts per page with full creator data on follow-up Use: Build a ranked KOL shortlist in 5 minutes instead of 5 hours of manual scrolling.

2. Social Graph Mapping (unique to this actor)

Influencer-marketing agencies mapping a creator's audience and adjacent network.

Input: User Fans + User Followers operations on a target UID Output: Up to 1,000 fan rows and 1,000 follower rows with full profile data Use: Find adjacent creators in the niche, identify community clusters, spot influence overlap before signing a creator.

3. China Market-Entry Research

Market intelligence analysts monitoring Weibo conversation before launching a brand in China.

Input: Search Weibo with industry keyword + date range across 10 pages Output: 140 posts with engagement metrics, locations, topics, posting clients Use: Quantify conversation volume, spot regional concentration, identify trending themes weeks before launch.

4. Brand Monitoring on Weibo

Brand managers tracking unauthorized mentions, branded-content performance, and counterfeits on China's biggest microblog.

Input: Scheduled Search Weibo with brand or product keyword Output: Every new mention with creator + engagement Use: React to viral mentions in near real-time; flag counterfeits & PR risks.

5. Sentiment & Crisis Monitoring

NLP / brand-perception teams analyzing Weibo reactions during a campaign or crisis.

Input: Weibo Detail on viral post IDs, plus Search Weibo with crisis keywords Output: Full post payloads with text, topics, regions, repost/comment/like counts Use: Feed a Chinese-language sentiment model; track crisis evolution hour by hour.

6. Trend & Topic Tracking

Content strategists at agencies tracking Weibo virality patterns weekly.

Input: Scheduled Search Weibo with niche keywords + date filter Output: Time-series of conversation volume + engagement velocity Use: Feed a trend dashboard; spot rising topics before they break.

7. Journalism & China Research

Journalists and academic researchers tracking topic surges in Chinese public discourse.

Input: Date-windowed Search Weibo across campaign or news event Output: Comprehensive corpus of public discussion with metadata Use: Compare conversation volume across events; quantify Chinese public reaction with timestamps.

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🔗 Integration Examples

JavaScript / Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('sian.agency/weibo-scraper').call({
  operation: 'searchWeibo',
  keyword: '北京',
  maxPages: 3,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items[0]);

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient('YOUR_TOKEN')

run = client.actor('sian.agency/weibo-scraper').call(
    run_input={'operation': 'userFans', 'userId': '2760523085', 'maxPages': 5}
)

for item in client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).iterate_items():
    print(item)

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/sian.agency~weibo-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"operation":"weiboDetail","weiboId":"5249718969175092"}'

Automation Workflows (N8N / Zapier / Make)

1. Trigger: schedule daily or webhook from a brief-creator
2. HTTP Request: call the actor's run-sync endpoint with operation + input
3. Process: filter by _operation and pivot on weiboId / userId
4. Action: push to BigQuery, Notion, Airtable, or a Slack alert

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📊 Performance & Pricing

FREE Tier (Try It Now)

• Full feature access — every operation, every field, no quality compromise
• No credit card required
• Perfect for evaluating data depth before you commit

PAID Tier (Production Ready)

• Unlimited results per run
• Faster processing — no FREE-tier throttling
• Pay-per-result: only charged for successful rows, never for errors or empty pages
• Volume discounts up to 50% off at GOLD/PLATINUM/DIAMOND Apify tiers

💰 Best price on the market for premium Weibo data — see pricing tab for the full per-event ladder. Single-row operations (Weibo Detail, User Profile) carry richer payloads at premium pricing; bulk operations (Fans, Followers, Search) are priced to scale.

🔗 View current pricing

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many posts / users can I extract per run? A: FREE tier: full feature access for evaluation. PAID tier: unlimited — capped only by maxPages (default 5, max 50) and platform-side data availability.

Q: Does it work with private profiles or shadow-banned accounts? A: No — only publicly accessible Weibo content is supported. Private accounts return empty rows; banned users return error rows with the translated message.

Q: Why do some fan / follower lists return empty? A: A significant share of Weibo users restrict public access to their fan or follower list. The actor detects this and emits a single translated explanatory row instead of crashing. Try a different UID.

Q: What output formats are available? A: JSON, CSV, Excel, RSS, HTML, XML — export directly from the Apify dataset UI or via API.

Q: Why are Weibo post IDs 16 digits — does the dataset preserve them? A: Yes. We use a bigint-safe JSON parser so 16-digit IDs round-trip without precision loss. Most scrapers silently corrupt these via JavaScript's Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER overflow and break cross-operation joins.

Q: Can I search in Chinese? A: Absolutely. Chinese, English, and mixed queries all work — Chinese surfaces more native conversations; English/brand queries surface international mentions.

Q: How does the date filter work for search? A: Pass startDay / endDay in YYYY-MM-DD format. The actor defaults to the last 30 days when omitted. Tight date windows return more relevant results.

Q: Is this legal? A: Yes — we only extract publicly available data. See the Legal section below.

Q: How long does processing take? A: ~3–5 seconds per page for paginated operations; ~3–5 seconds for single-row operations.

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🐛 Troubleshooting

Page returned no rows / empty dataset

• Verify the input is correct: Weibo ID has 16 digits, UID is numeric, keyword is non-empty
• Check that the post / user still exists on Weibo (try opening weiboPageUrl or userPageUrl from a result row)
• For fans / followers: not every account exposes these publicly — Weibo respects per-user privacy settings

HTTP errors / "Data source temporarily unavailable" rows

• The actor auto-retries transient failures up to 4 times with exponential backoff. If you still see error rows, the upstream is rate-limited or under maintenance — retry the run after a few minutes.

16-digit Weibo IDs look truncated in spreadsheet exports

• Spreadsheet apps (Excel, Google Sheets) auto-cast long integers to scientific notation. The actor preserves them as strings in JSON; in CSV exports, format the weiboId column as Text before opening.

Pagination ends earlier than maxPages requested

• That means the platform served the last page. Check _page on the last row. Not all keywords or users have 50 pages of content.

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⚠️ Trademark Disclaimer

This actor is an independent scraping tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Sina Corporation or any of its subsidiaries. "Weibo" and "Sina" are used solely in a descriptive sense to identify the public data source the actor reads from. Weibo® and Sina® are trademarks of their respective owners. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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⚖️ Is it legal to scrape data?

Our actors are ethical and do not extract any private user data, such as email addresses or private contact information. They only extract what the user has chosen to share publicly. We therefore believe that our actors, when used for ethical purposes by Apify users, are safe.

However, you should be aware that your results could contain personal data. Personal data is protected by the GDPR in the European Union and by other regulations around the world. You should not scrape personal data unless you have a legitimate reason to do so. If you're unsure whether your reason is legitimate, consult your lawyers.

You can also read Apify's blog post on the legality of web scraping.

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✨ More by SIÁN Agency

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Short-Video & Social Media

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• Instagram AI Transcript Extractor — Reels & Stories transcription
• Facebook AI Transcript Extractor — Facebook video → text
• YouTube Shorts AI Transcript & Metadata Extractor — Shorts data + transcripts

Real Estate (Global)

• Zillow Property Scraper · Airbnb Scraper · Bayut (Dubai) · Redfin · StreetEasy (NYC) · Zoopla (UK) · Realtor.com

Browse all SIÁN actors →

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🤝 Support

Join our active support community

• For issues or questions, open an issue in the actor's Apify Console Issues tab
• 📧 hello@sian-agency.online

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