Data Acquisition Tools for Social Media

The increasing number of social media users worldwide has led to an exponential growth in user-generated data across various platforms, making social media a valuable resource for research and information analysis. This thesis explores the potential of social media as a comprehensive data source, focusing on the methods and challenges involved in gathering and analyzing data from platforms like Instagram. As a highly visual platform, Instagram offers a wealth of multimedia content that reflects user interests, trends, and social behaviors, making it an ideal source for studies in areas like marketing, public opinion, and cultural analysis. The platform’s wide reach and engagement, especially among younger demographics and influencers, enhance its value for data-driven research. The research delves into various data acquisition techniques, including the use of official APIs, web scraping, and third-party tools, to assess their effectiveness in collecting structured, usable data for academic and analytical purposes. Through both theoretical analysis and practical experimentation, the study identifies key factors such as data structuring, export formats, and compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA as essential considerations for ethical and efficient social media data collection. The findings underscore the significant role that social media data can play in supporting diverse research applications, from sentiment analysis to trend tracking, and offer guidance on selecting appropriate data acquisition methods based on project requirements and ethical considerations. This thesis contributes to a broader understanding of the opportunities and limitations inherent in using social media as a research tool, emphasizing the importance of responsible data practices in leveraging social media’s vast informational potential.