Extract and log hashtags from Instagram exports

To extract and log hashtags from Instagram exports, you need to process the data exported from Instagram—typically in the form of a .json or .zip archive containing multiple .json files or text logs of posts, captions, comments, etc.

Here’s a clear step-by-step breakdown to extract and log hashtags using a Python script:

📦 1. Download Your Instagram Export

From Instagram:

• Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Data Download or Instagram’s Data Download page.

• Request your data. Once downloaded, extract the .zip file.

• Locate the relevant files:

  • media.json

  • comments.json

  • posts.json

  • Or content.json depending on the archive

🧾 2. Python Script to Extract Hashtags

python
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import json
import os
import re

# Define the directory where JSON files are stored
data_folder = "path/to/your/instagram/data"

# Regex pattern to find hashtags
hashtag_pattern = re.compile(r"#w+")

# Store extracted hashtags
all_hashtags = []

def extract_hashtags_from_text(text):
    return hashtag_pattern.findall(text)

# Loop through JSON files that may contain hashtags
for file_name in os.listdir(data_folder):
    if file_name.endswith('.json'):
        file_path = os.path.join(data_folder, file_name)
        with open(file_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
            try:
                data = json.load(f)

                if isinstance(data, list):
                    for entry in data:
                        for key in ['caption', 'text', 'title', 'comment']:
                            if key in entry and isinstance(entry[key], str):
                                hashtags = extract_hashtags_from_text(entry[key])
                                all_hashtags.extend(hashtags)

                elif isinstance(data, dict):
                    for key, value in data.items():
                        if isinstance(value, str):
                            hashtags = extract_hashtags_from_text(value)
                            all_hashtags.extend(hashtags)

            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Error reading {file_name}: {e}")

# Normalize and deduplicate
unique_hashtags = sorted(set(tag.lower() for tag in all_hashtags))

# Log the results
print("nExtracted Hashtags:")
for tag in unique_hashtags:
    print(tag)

🧠 How It Works

• Scans all .json files in the folder.

• Searches for captions, texts, titles, or comments with hashtags.

• Uses regular expressions to find hashtags like #example.

• Deduplicates and logs the final list.

📝 Output Example

yaml
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Extracted Hashtags:
#coding
#instagood
#nature
#photooftheday
#travel

🔧 Optional Enhancements

• Save to a .txt or .csv file

• Track hashtag frequency:

python
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from collections import Counter
counter = Counter(all_hashtags)
print(counter.most_common(10))

• Export to Excel with pandas

Let me know if you’d like an advanced version that supports UI or batch processing across multiple user archives.