I made a self-hostable frontend for instagram. (codeberg.org)
from irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com to selfhosted@lemmy.world on 17 Jan 15:55
https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/61850820

Inspired by nitter.

#selfhosted

threaded - newest

artyom@piefed.social on 17 Jan 15:57 next collapse

Codeberg is down, what’s the URL?

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 17 Jan 16:07 collapse

My instance is kittygram.irelephant.net

artyom@piefed.social on 18 Jan 07:29 collapse

Cool, thank you. Would be cool if we were able to follow accounts from there…

WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works on 18 Jan 23:11 collapse

thats possible apparently: lemmy.dbzer0.com/comment/23840511

artyom@piefed.social on 18 Jan 23:13 collapse

LOL its broken already.

WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works on 18 Jan 23:15 collapse

well Instagram is serious about ratelimits

kumi@feddit.online on 17 Jan 16:09 next collapse

Cool! Keeping up with platform changes is a challenge for projects like this. I think to be successful beyond initial popularity you need an active community that can do this together. It’s draining for just one person - especially once you get big enough that they might actively break things just to mess with your integration. Following maintenance of alternative YouTube clients as well as searx-ng is illustrative.

Not to discourage but be prepared. Best of luck!

https://cadence.moe/blog/2022-09-01-discontinuing-bibliogram

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 17 Jan 16:14 collapse

I’ve already read that article, the situation on Instagram has changed a bit, which makes scraping easier.

Ratelimits are still a problem if you don’t have a residential IP, but I have a workaround for that (which I’m hesitant to share publicly).

Blisterexe@lemmy.zip on 17 Jan 16:45 next collapse

looks great! Thank you for making this

LiveLM@lemmy.zip on 17 Jan 18:24 next collapse

Doing the lords work, thank you

ohshit604@sh.itjust.works on 17 Jan 18:47 next collapse

Pretty sure Bibliogram was inspired by Nitter before it became deprecated. Hope to see this flourish.

BigBolillo@mgtowlemmy.org on 17 Jan 18:52 next collapse

Isn’t it better to stop using Instagram at all? Insted of trying self-hosted shenanigans…

dadarobot@lemmy.sdf.org on 17 Jan 19:28 next collapse

its better to quit heroin, but safe injection sites are good for public health

BigBolillo@mgtowlemmy.org on 17 Jan 21:52 collapse

Still easier to uninstall an app than dealing with abstinence syndrome… but if you think beyond that stop watching asses on the internet is like stop doing heroin. So finally I think what you say is fair.

tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.garden on 17 Jan 23:46 next collapse

I’m not “using” Instagram actively, but sometimes I want to see a public profile and it doesn’t let me. Didn’t check this out yet but if it doesn’t need a login it could help with this

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Jan 04:33 next collapse

This doesn’t let you interact with Instagram, it just lets you view profiles/posts

Akasazh@lemmy.world on 18 Jan 05:28 collapse

I don’t use Twitter nor insta, but sometimes I get shared a link and nitter handy to check it out without an account. So I applaud this

irmadlad@lemmy.world on 18 Jan 07:40 collapse

This is how I use front end apps. Other than the data contained in the posts, I have no interest in Insta, FB, et al. Similar to how I use RedLib for Reddit because, despite Reddit turning into a cesspool, there are still some great technical subs that contain valuable info. Interacting on Reddit tho, is a hard pass.

KarnaSubarna@lemmy.ml on 17 Jan 20:47 next collapse

Nice. After Bilbogram was discontinued, I believe we all were waiting for an replacement.

reabsorbthelight@lemmy.world on 17 Jan 22:42 next collapse

It would be cool if this was ActivityPub compatible so we could follow Instagram from Mastodon. As much as I hate meta, there are some artists I would like to follow still

AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space on 18 Jan 03:40 next collapse

Or even if it could provide RSS feeds of accounts, for following in a RSS reader.

Though excellent work!

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Jan 04:09 collapse

I would like to add RSS, I don’t think it’s feasible cadence.moe/…/2022-09-01-discontinuing-bibliogram

A much-requested feature I added early on was RSS feeds. This ended up getting quickly turned off for the main instance, because RSS usage was dwarfing interactive usage. Many of these feeds had been added to people’s readers and forgotten about. Even today I still receive a decent number of forgotten requests for feeds — these forgotten feeds haven’t returned useful data for more than two years. Feed requests aren’t free. Bibliogram needs to make an outgoing web request, wait for it, and convert the response data. This also uses up a piece of Bibliogram’s rate limit to Instagram, even if nobody’s there to see the feed that Bibliogram generates.

I could add it, but have it disabled by default, so anyone hosting a personal instance can enable it.

AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space on 18 Jan 04:15 collapse

Being able to set up personally hosted RSS feeds would be useful. If the feeds are fetched periodically, that could also allow archiving of accounts.

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Jan 03:40 collapse
hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.org on 17 Jan 23:16 next collapse

awesome! i hope this stays around.

would be nice if it also saved/archived everything it downloads from instagram and sends it to the internet archive

iamthetot@piefed.ca on 17 Jan 23:44 next collapse

Awesome work!

bdama@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 18 Jan 04:55 next collapse

It would be great if people could stop using Meta services and software.

Fedditor385@lemmy.world on 18 Jan 05:36 collapse

It would be great if people stop using social media in general.

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Jan 05:55 collapse

Lemmy is social media

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 18 Jan 07:07 next collapse

No, it is a social network. That’s different from social media.

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Jan 07:42 next collapse

What would you define social media as?

Oxford says.

websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

That definition certainly matches Lemmy.

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 18 Jan 09:02 collapse

Social networking is about connecting people, which Lemmy as a forum does. You could argue that the function of Lemmy as a link aggregator is more social media like, but I doubt people would consider an RSS feed reader to be social media either.

Social media is like TV, a one-to-many medium, usually with some sort of feed curation to promote certain topics.

Waryle@jlai.lu on 18 Jan 09:10 next collapse

That’s a totally made up definition from your part. Media is the plural of medium, which means “intermediary”. A social media is just the middleman that allows people to socialize. Lemmy is a social media, as well as a social network.

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 18 Jan 09:20 collapse

Every definition is “made up” 🙄

What I explained is how these terms are commonly used on the fediverse.

And anyways, if “social media” and “social network” is the same, why have two different terms for it?

GunnarGrop@lemmy.ml on 18 Jan 19:28 next collapse

There are lot of synonyms, people just choose some words in different contexts based on how they sound. Why use the word “begin” when the word “start” exists?

Waryle@jlai.lu on 21 Jan 02:18 collapse

totally made up definition from your part

You forgot the “from your part” that is quite important. Language is a consensus, you just invented your own definition and pretend that it is the consensus.

And anyways, if “social media” and “social network” is the same, why have two different terms for it?

They’re not the same, it’s the square/rectangle thing. A social network is a kind of social media, all social medias are not social network. You could argue that Whatsapp is a social media but not a social network (but the frontier is getting blurry with groups and these kind of things).

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 21 Jan 03:39 collapse

Wat? Sorry, but your definition is even further from anything that could be called a consensus. You could maybe argue that WhatsApp is a social network, but it definitly isn’t social media and it is completly outlandish to claim so. Where do you even get the “media” part in it? You know, compound words are still made up of individual words that have a meaning by themself. Kinda funny that you accuse me of “making up definitions” 🙄

But sure there are some blurry edges between them. For example, Instagram is primarily used for social media, but the direct messages are more used like a social network.

Waryle@jlai.lu on 21 Jan 05:11 collapse

Where do you even get the “media” part in it?

I’ll quote myself because I already answered that: « Media is the plural of medium, which means “intermediary” ». That’s the textbook definition of the word media, and the consensus about what it means.

Whatsapp is the middleman/platform, thus intermediary (= “medium/media”), between two people socializing. I don’t understand what you don’t understand.

A social network is social media that allows to form groups or communities. Two people communicating is not a network, the whole point of a network is interconnection between members of a group.

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 21 Jan 06:26 collapse

No, that is not what “media” means. That might be what the original word in Latin meant, but in English it is used to refer to things like newspapers, TV channels and so on, and “social media” is a direct reference to that.

A social network is social media that allows to form groups or communities. Two people communicating is not a network, the whole point of a network is interconnection between members of a group.

Indeed, and that is why I don’t really agree to classify WhatsApp as a social network, but it has chat groups, so it is closer to a social network than social media.

Waryle@jlai.lu on 21 Jan 06:58 collapse

No, once again you’re inventing definitions, please have a read

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 21 Jan 07:06 collapse

You are funny. That article links directly to what media typically refers to, i.e. “mass media”.

Ask any typical person around you what they understand if you talk about “the media”, and they will confirm that this indeed refers to what I am talking about.

The “social” qualifier is a direct reference to how normal media is a one way street and how publishing is only open to a selected few and that is what sets “social media” apart from it.

WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works on 18 Jan 23:05 next collapse

I have never heard anyone refer to TV as social media, I have always heard it in context with facebook, twitter and co.

a better objection, which makes me uncertain whether lemmy is social media, is that this is a pseudonymous forum where its not common for users to become friends or know each other, and discussion is not around a specific news site or a specific person, but around specific topics

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 19 Jan 04:20 collapse

I didn’t say TV is social media, I said social media is like TV is the sense that it is a one-to-many medium. I could have also used TikTok to explain the difference, but people here are clearly confused about the destinction and it would have been less clear.

pseudonymous forum where its not common for users to become friends or know each other

This isn’t really true for regular commenters. There are even feuds between specific users and so on. I agree though that there are constant attempts by some people who try to make Lemmy more like social media by advocating for dissolving the destinction between communities and instances to turn Lemmy into a dumb meme and news posting app for entertainment purposes.

NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip on 19 Jan 00:35 collapse

Social networking is about connecting people

Well Lemmy is not about that at all. I know absolutely Zero people from lemmy.

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 19 Jan 04:24 collapse

That seems to be a you problem.

Of course it is an pseudonymous online forum, so it isn’t about making friends in real-life, but you can make plenty of connections with people online via it.

NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip on 19 Jan 13:29 collapse

That seems to be a you problem.

That isn’t a problem, it is by design. I don’t want to follow you or anyone else. I don’t want to promote myself either. I absolutely do not want to make any connections with people here. I read the aggregated subject feeds, I get clarity or insights from the comments. And that is where it ends. Anonymity makes this all work.

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 19 Jan 13:46 collapse

Yes, and that is what connecting people means… talking to each other. NOT promoting oneself in a one-to-many fashion like what social media is about. Anonymous or not is of lesser relevance but it works either way.

NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip on 19 Jan 13:54 collapse

Annonymity is extremely important. I don’t know you, you don’t know me. Nothing I say matters, nothing you say matters. There is no tone, no personality, just words. You could be a liar or a bot, it makes zero difference.

That isn’t very social at all.

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 19 Jan 15:16 collapse

Eh? It is what I say that matters. You have a very strange world view if you think just because there is only a pseudonym attached it doesn’t matter. And of course conversing with others is social 🙄

NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip on 19 Jan 15:19 collapse

And you have a weird world view if you think being social is leaving posts on a forum to reply to some rando you will never know.

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 19 Jan 15:28 collapse

Again, that seems to be a you problem. There are plenty of places on Lemmy that have very recognizable regular posters and comenters you can socially interact with 🤷

NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip on 19 Jan 15:36 collapse

Yeah I am sure some people do that. But I wouldn’t. Some people eat dirt too.

Magnum@infosec.pub on 19 Jan 00:06 collapse

Its not a car, its a vehicle!

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 19 Jan 04:25 collapse

There is a difference between the two terms as well, so thanks for supporting my point /s

NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip on 19 Jan 00:35 next collapse

What is the social part? I change my name daily, and dont really give a shit about people following me.

Gelik@feddit.dk on 19 Jan 07:23 next collapse

I change my name daily why

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 19 Jan 07:57 collapse

Its social because you’re interacting with other people

NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip on 19 Jan 13:34 collapse

No. I am reading an aggregation forum, and getting clarity and insights from the comments. I barely am interacting with anyone.

Look, this term didn’t even exist until the mid 90’s and didn’t take off in common use until the mid 2000’s.

The difference is Lemmy is topic centered thread first, discussion last, where social media is basically a self publishing, identity first platform. People put shit on instagram and facebook because it is about them (mostly). Here it is just news/stories with comments. And anonymity, which is what makes it all work.

I consider everyone here the same way I did when I was on a bbs: they are liars. Modern twist: they are liars and bots. Everyone is bullshitting and saying whatever they want, this is hardly a social event.

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 19 Jan 14:42 collapse

So is twitter not social media if you just use it to read hashtags, and get clarity and insight from the comments?

Other social media sites can very much be topic centered

Fedditor385@lemmy.world on 19 Jan 09:09 collapse

You are right. According to the definition of social media, Lemmy is social media. However, “social media” would by definition fit any kind of digital communication media. A forum, or a blog, or an IRC channel are also, by definition, social media.

I would argue that the social media has a distinct association with Facebook, Instagram and the diverse spawns of those, and by association doesn’t fit anything else. At best, we simply lack a different term, which splits “old-school” stuff like forums and blogs. I view lemmy more like a forum. You have categories, and users can go into categories to start discussions. You don’t follow anyone. People also don’t create and post their own content, but rather seek discussions or share other stuff from the internet. Your goal is not reach, follow count or like count.

It is social media, but it’s definitely nothing like Facebook. We simply lack a better term.

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 19 Jan 09:32 collapse

I would definitely call a forum or IRC channel social media.

I wouldn’t consider blogs social media unless they had a very active comments section.

Fedditor385@lemmy.world on 19 Jan 11:50 collapse

Media is more audio, video, image. Which fits social media.

Most forums and blogs are text-based or primary text. There is no blog sharing only images/videos/audio as posts. Also no such forum.

That would be my key differentiation - forums and IRC is social, but not really media.

ptu@sopuli.xyz on 19 Jan 14:04 collapse

Printed media is definately media, and so are blogs. The social part of it is how people can interact with it.

JRaccoon@discuss.tchncs.de on 18 Jan 07:07 next collapse

Awesome! Got it running and seems to work well. Also I love the CLAUDE.md file you got there in the repo 🐈

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Jan 07:42 collapse

I’m happy someone noticed it

fluxx@lemmy.world on 18 Jan 10:01 collapse

Read it now. It made my day a bit better :)

NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip on 19 Jan 00:34 next collapse

Why? Fuck Instagram.

Harald_im_Netz@feddit.org on 19 Jan 05:36 next collapse

On the one side, you’re absolutely right. On the other hand, people around us are still using it, especially Musicians and Artists. If I want to find out some concert dates or check the mail of a tattoo artist I like, sometimes I have no other option than checking Instagram, despite killing the artist of my list – which I do not want to :-)

NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip on 19 Jan 13:38 collapse

I disagree. Billions are being made, data centers and AI machines are being built that use the electricity that could power 50 million homes, and that is Meta ALONE. Your tattoo artist and musicians are perpetuating it. Oh well, they don’t need my business. I don’t support people that do that.

If people keep saying “but I have to”, then fuck it, meta won.

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 19 Jan 08:46 collapse

I made this because I hate Instagram, but there’s still lots of valid reasons to use it.

NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip on 19 Jan 13:36 collapse

No. There is no valid reason to use it. All this does is continue to enable a massive AI data center and Zuckerbergs billions. Walking away is the only viable option. It needs to go away, stop helping it remain.

Edit: Why would any one argue with this? Unless you are a billionaire, use of this shit is hurting you. Your environment, AI slop, your politics for fucks sake. Continued use is making your life worse for the sake of a handful of people enriching themselves from it, and you don’t care?

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 19 Jan 14:43 collapse

I was able to delete my Twitter account because of nitter, because I could view posts without logging in.

airikr@lemmy.ml on 19 Jan 12:06 next collapse

Just don’t get a court order by Meta like the other dude that created a front-end for Instagram. Can’t remember the name since it was before the pandemic. There was a lot of news about it in the FOSS community.

JRaccoon@discuss.tchncs.de on 19 Jan 13:24 next collapse

Obviously I’m not a lawyer but I don’t see what law they could use to shut it down. All it’s doing is accessing publicly available data via a proxy. It’s not like it’s exploiting Instagram somehow.

If they wanna stop it, they can do what Twitter did and start requiring an account to see almost anything. Personally I suspect Meta is slowly going towards that.

airikr@lemmy.ml on 19 Jan 13:58 collapse

Good. Then they have nothing to say about :)

irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 19 Jan 14:44 collapse

Barinsta was a full client, not just a simple frontend.

airikr@lemmy.ml on 19 Jan 14:49 collapse

That was the name! And yes, you’re right. It was a full client.

scala@lemmy.ml on 19 Jan 15:57 collapse

Very cool. Guess I’ll have to use it on the PC rather than using istander.