Facebook provides public content through Pages, posts, groups and events, as documented by Meta in its Content Library announcement. Page profiles, posts and Reels are useful starting points for understanding who publishes content and what they share. Comments, community discussions, listings, event details and advertising records add context.
For developers evaluating a Facebook scraper, the first question should be which public records the project needs. Social Fetch documents routes for several Facebook surfaces. However, Meta states that automated collection without its permission violates its terms. Visibility, collection permission and appropriate reuse require separate checks.
1. Page Profiles
Page profiles provide the identity layer for a dataset. Social Fetch lists fields such as followers, likes, contact information and business hours in its public profile documentation. These records can support business directories, organization matching or dashboards that connect publications to their source.
Start with a Page identifier and its URL, then record whichever business fields are available. Keep missing values explicit rather than filling gaps with guesses. For verification work, Meta describes Page Transparency information, including creation dates and previous name changes. Use these details as context, rather than proof that every published claim is accurate.
2. Posts and Reels
Posts and Reels show what a publisher communicates. Meta describes public post data and engagement counts in its research tools. Separately, its video publishing announcement explains the shift toward sharing videos as Reels while retaining audience controls. A Reel label does not establish that a video is public.
Possible uses include tracking announcements, comparing publishing themes and building searchable content indexes. Store the publication time, source link and collection time alongside each record. Avoid treating reaction counts as evidence of agreement. Where a workflow needs spoken content, Social Fetch notes that transcript text is not guaranteed, even when a video lookup succeeds.
3. Comments and Replies
Comments provide another layer: how people respond to a publication. Meta announced public Facebook comments in Content Library and its API in 2024. The company describes this data as useful for studying how audiences receive, discuss and reinterpret content.
Researchers might examine recurring questions, disagreement or requests for clarification. Developers can preserve the relationship between a comment, its parent post and any replies. For interpretation, keep the claim narrow: a comment sample describes the material collected. It should not be presented as a survey of every follower or everyone who encountered the post.
4. Public Groups
Public groups offer community context around shared interests or locations. Meta explains that new content in public groups can be visible to anyone, including people outside Facebook. Potential applications include examining local discussions or identifying questions that recur within a defined community.
The boundary excludes private groups and protected historical material. In its group conversion announcement, Meta says posts, comments and reactions shared while a group was private remain restricted after conversion. Researchers should check the visibility of individual records instead of assuming that a public group has a public history.
5. Marketplace Listings
Marketplace listings describe goods offered for sale. Meta outlines listing elements including photographs, product names, descriptions, prices, categories and general locations. These fields can inform an exploratory study of advertised prices or help developers organize publicly visible offers by area and product type.
Keep asking prices separate from completed transaction values. A listed amount is an offer, so do not label it a confirmed sale price. Set a consistent search area and record collection dates for comparisons. Seller messages belong outside a public listing dataset; the Marketplace documentation describes direct messaging as a separate interaction.
6. Public Events
Events connect an activity to a schedule and place. Facebook Help Center distinguishes public events from private, friends-only and group events. Public event descriptions, photographs, posts and videos can be visible on or off Facebook. Page-hosted events are public under that guidance.
Developers might use visible event details to build community calendars. Researchers could map advertised activities within a chosen period. Check each event’s privacy setting, particularly when it belongs to a group. Record when the details were retrieved and recommend checking the organizer’s information before relying on a schedule.
7. Ad Library Records
Advertising records help distinguish paid messaging from ordinary publications. Meta describes its Ad Library as a searchable source of active ads, with additional transparency information for political or issue advertising. These records can support creative comparisons and research into how advertisers frame their messages.
Keep conclusions within the disclosed fields. Do not infer sales, profitability or a complete targeting strategy from creative alone. Define the countries, categories and dates examined before comparing advertisers.
Choose the Data Before the Tool
Useful public-data research starts with a focused question. Select the smallest relevant dataset, document access limits and preserve source links. For related context, consider the technology behind social media trust systems. As collection tools evolve, boundaries and careful interpretation should remain central to every monitoring project.