Cyprus
Locations
Locations
Based on data from Instagram API
Locations
How did we do it?
1. The first step was to obtain all the geotags for each of the 4 cities. A geotag (geolocation) indicates the location of a particular object on the map. For instance, you post a photo from a restaurant and mention the location.
2. For each city we determined the boundaries (ranges of longitude and latitude) and calculated the Cartesian product of these ranges. Thus, we determined a set of points on the map, in which we further searched for geotags.
3. After we collected a list of geotags, we needed to get information about these places. Instagram allows you to get the following data:
4. Instagram does not approve when you send too many requests, so after a certain number of requests it blocks the account. To bypass the blocking, we used many (lots of!) accounts and various proxies, which allowed us to get all the necessary information.
2. For each city we determined the boundaries (ranges of longitude and latitude) and calculated the Cartesian product of these ranges. Thus, we determined a set of points on the map, in which we further searched for geotags.
3. After we collected a list of geotags, we needed to get information about these places. Instagram allows you to get the following data:
- Number of posts by geotag
- Number of likes for top posts by geotag
- Number of comments under top posts
- Geotag category (restaurant, bar, hotel, tourist attraction, etc.)
- Price category
- Additional info: address, website, phone and opening hours
4. Instagram does not approve when you send too many requests, so after a certain number of requests it blocks the account. To bypass the blocking, we used many (lots of!) accounts and various proxies, which allowed us to get all the necessary information.
Data collection
The second step was data processing. The data we received could not be immediately used for analysis, as it contained many duplicates, omissions, and inaccuracies.
1. Duplicates
For example, there could be several geopoints for the same location (in English and Greek). Such geotags had to be matched and eliminated so that in the end only one remained.
2. Mistakes
Some locations had missing or incorrectly defined geotag categories, price categories or coordinates – such cases had to be corrected manually.
1. Duplicates
For example, there could be several geopoints for the same location (in English and Greek). Such geotags had to be matched and eliminated so that in the end only one remained.
2. Mistakes
Some locations had missing or incorrectly defined geotag categories, price categories or coordinates – such cases had to be corrected manually.
Data processing
