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For those interested in archiving their FB content, note that FB's download tool supplies only a subset of the content available in the activity log (namely onl

For those interested in archiving their FB content, note that FB's download tool supplies only a subset of the content available in the activity log (namely only the content linked to your timeline). I've been working on a sustainable way to export all activity log content and will post updates here: https://github.com/IonicaBizau/reset-your-facebook-account/issues/17 https://github.com/IonicaBizau/reset-your-facebook-account/i...

newscracker 9y ago
Your current script name seems to imply that it only helps delete everything one has posted/shared. But you mention exporting as well. Is it going to be anywhere close to the paid/subscription product digi.me [1], except for not being in a proprietary format? Digi.me allows export of one's content from groups and pages too. [1]: https://www.digi.me/ https://www.digi.me/
- mgorenstein 9y ago
  I didn't create the original scripts, which are indeed focused on content deletion. Having fumbled around with various possibilities for the last week or so, I'd guess that the most robust solution to data export from FB would require use of a scraper to extract individual items from the activity log. Ideally that scraper would also visit and clone referent posts (i.e. if I once commented on a post, also save the post itself). My best partial solution thus far has involved programmatically expanding the entirety of the mobile activity log and using Chrome's 'Save Page As.' I've written Python code to then replace all links to images in the HTML with locally stored copies that I obtain using FB's Graph API. I'm not familiar with what digi.me offers specifically. Moving data from one closed ecosystem to another doesn't seem especially desirable. I would gladly participate in an open source effort to automate FB data export--scraping, alas, isn't my forté.
  - newscracker 9y ago
    Scraping pages has limitations, and may also be prohibited/banned on the platform depending on how it's done (there are some Terms of Use and permission request forms to fill in if scraping is done by programs - I'm not sure if it applies to all kinds of scrapers, including personal ones). The way digi.me and other similar solutions work is by getting the user to authorize the app and use that authorization with the Facebook APIs to retrieve content. It'd be faster than page scraping, and likely less intrusive (guessing here) on Facebooks Terms of Use.
    - mgorenstein 9y ago
      Yeah, I'd like if there were a straightforward way to access the same content via the API, and perhaps this is possible. I was unsuccessful. I'd made an attempt to grab all photos I've ever been tagged in, which I was able to accomplish using the approach I described in my last comment, solely through the API, but was only able to access those photos currently on my timeline (a much smaller set). My suspicion is that services like digi.me similarly won't have access to anything beyond the timeline. Have you used digi.me?
      - newscracker 9y ago
        I have used it more than a year ago, at which time it was restricted to timeline and pages. It has since added exporting content from groups (and probably others). Basically anything allowed by the Facebook APIs is what it aims to support. The downside is that it stores it in its own proprietary database and needs a subscription to continue to use it (though it's quite cheap, and I certainly wouldn't put the price as a factor against it).

newscracker 9y ago

Your current script name seems to imply that it only helps delete everything one has posted/shared. But you mention exporting as well. Is it going to be anywhere close to the paid/subscription product digi.me [1], except for not being in a proprietary format? Digi.me allows export of one's content from groups and pages too. [1]: https://www.digi.me/ https://www.digi.me/

mgorenstein 9y ago
I didn't create the original scripts, which are indeed focused on content deletion. Having fumbled around with various possibilities for the last week or so, I'd guess that the most robust solution to data export from FB would require use of a scraper to extract individual items from the activity log. Ideally that scraper would also visit and clone referent posts (i.e. if I once commented on a post, also save the post itself). My best partial solution thus far has involved programmatically expanding the entirety of the mobile activity log and using Chrome's 'Save Page As.' I've written Python code to then replace all links to images in the HTML with locally stored copies that I obtain using FB's Graph API. I'm not familiar with what digi.me offers specifically. Moving data from one closed ecosystem to another doesn't seem especially desirable. I would gladly participate in an open source effort to automate FB data export--scraping, alas, isn't my forté.
- newscracker 9y ago
  Scraping pages has limitations, and may also be prohibited/banned on the platform depending on how it's done (there are some Terms of Use and permission request forms to fill in if scraping is done by programs - I'm not sure if it applies to all kinds of scrapers, including personal ones). The way digi.me and other similar solutions work is by getting the user to authorize the app and use that authorization with the Facebook APIs to retrieve content. It'd be faster than page scraping, and likely less intrusive (guessing here) on Facebooks Terms of Use.
  - mgorenstein 9y ago
    Yeah, I'd like if there were a straightforward way to access the same content via the API, and perhaps this is possible. I was unsuccessful. I'd made an attempt to grab all photos I've ever been tagged in, which I was able to accomplish using the approach I described in my last comment, solely through the API, but was only able to access those photos currently on my timeline (a much smaller set). My suspicion is that services like digi.me similarly won't have access to anything beyond the timeline. Have you used digi.me?
    - newscracker 9y ago
      I have used it more than a year ago, at which time it was restricted to timeline and pages. It has since added exporting content from groups (and probably others). Basically anything allowed by the Facebook APIs is what it aims to support. The downside is that it stores it in its own proprietary database and needs a subscription to continue to use it (though it's quite cheap, and I certainly wouldn't put the price as a factor against it).