Instagram followers JSON explained
Understand followers_1.json, following.json, username entries, timestamps and split files before using your Instagram data download for analysis.
JSON is a structured file, not an app to install
A JSON export represents data as lists and named fields. You do not need to edit or execute it. InstaScope can read the relevant JSON directly from the ZIP, so extracting everything is optional.
Supported exports commonly use followers_1.json (and additional numbered parts) and following.json inside a followers_and_following folder. Folder depth can vary. Select every followers part when working with extracted files.
For the synthetic follower entry below, timestamp 1659484800 corresponds to August 3, 2022 in UTC. The value field is the username; href is its profile link. Changing the timestamp or pasting another list into the file would alter your evidence, so keep the original export unchanged.
How account entries become relationship lists
In supported followers files, string_list_data entries contain a username value and may include a profile href and timestamp. Following entries can be nested under relationships_following, with the username in title or the list entry. These are supported shapes, not a guarantee that every future export uses identical fields.
InstaScope normalizes usernames and removes duplicates before comparing the two sets. A display name is not a reliable substitute for a username. If the parser cannot recognize required data, it reports the problem rather than silently treating it as zero accounts.
A minimal fictional followers_1.json entry
This invented single-entry example illustrates a supported follower array. The following file uses its own supported structure; do not replace one file with the other.
[
{
"string_list_data": [
{
"value": "sample.fern",
"href": "https://www.instagram.com/sample.fern/",
"timestamp": 1659484800
}
]
}
]A matching fictional following.json file
Following can use the relationships_following wrapper with a title and string_list_data. The sample.fern date here is May 12, 2021: your outgoing relationship, separate from the incoming 2022 follower date above. sample.pine is valid without a timestamp and stays Date unavailable. Both snippets are checked with InstaScope's parser.
{
"relationships_following": [
{
"title": "sample.fern",
"string_list_data": [
{
"value": "sample.fern",
"timestamp": 1620777600
}
]
},
{
"title": "sample.pine",
"string_list_data": [
{
"value": "sample.pine"
}
]
}
]
}A timestamp is not a complete account history
Usable numeric timestamps describe dates supplied with individual entries. The analyzer can sort dated entries or group them on a timeline. Missing or invalid dates stay unknown, and an HTML export may provide fewer usable dates.
The earliest dated entry in an export is only the earliest among the dated entries present. It is not proof of when the account was created or when you first used Instagram. An export is also not a log of every historical follower total.
Keep the files together and private
Do not paste follower JSON into a public issue or online formatter merely to check its shape. For this analyzer, choose the file locally. If both lists are explicitly empty, zero is a valid result; if a list is absent, provide it before interpreting the analysis.
For changes over time, keep a second export with comparable coverage. Renaming or copying one file does not create an independent historical snapshot.