In order to import the comments on an Instagram post published on a business profile, apps like Easypromos need to connect to the Facebook API to be able to retrieve all the comments.

However, there are three possible cases where the Facebook API doesn't give access to retrieve all the comments, which results in a difference between the number of comments that Easypromos has imported for the giveaway and the comments that Instagram show in the post.

Note: We recommend that you take the step of importing the comments from a laptop computer instead of a mobile device, and make sure that you don't lose connection and you don't close the browser.

Below we explain these three cases in detail:

1. Replies to comments on the post

Comments that users make on a post are considered first level comments and can be obtained through the Facebook API. But replies to comments are considered second level comments and are not provided by the API. However, Instagram adds these second level comments in the comment counter that shows on Instagram.

In this screenshot you can see an example of replies to a comment on a post that can not be imported to the giveaway:

2. Comments coming from sponsored posts

By default, the Facebook API allows to import comments made on the organic post. If the post has been sponsored, comments that are made on the sponsored post are not automatically included. However, Instagram adds the comments made on the sponsored post in the comment counter that shows on Instagram.

Solution: With the "Multi-Network Giveaway" you can add the comments coming from sponsored posts by selecting the Facebook Ad. Learn how to do it in this tutorial.

3. Discrepancy between the number of comments displayed publicly and the number of comments indicated by the Instagram counter

In some occasions we have observed that there is a discrepancy, in some cases an important one, between the number of comments that Instagram shows publicly in the post and the number indicated by the Instagram counter. This discrepancy becomes evident when the comments of the post are counted manually, by displaying all the comments on the post and manually counting them. When doing the manual count, the number of comments obtained does not correspond to the number that Instagram indicates in its counter.

From Easypromos we have checked with Instagram the reason for this discrepancy. Instagram confirms that this discrepancy may exist and may be due to two possible reasons:

1. User privacy settings.

2. For being comments considered spam/offensive.

In both cases, Instagram directly hides or removes these comments.

Therefore, the visible and valid comments will be the comments that can be manually counted in the post. This will also be the number of comments that can be imported into the giveaway, even if the Instagram counter shows another number.