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Reference

Instagram insights API metrics, and more

Meta has deprecated a large share of its Page and post Insights metrics over the past two years, replacing "impressions"-based metrics with "views"-based ones. This is a WebSearched, dated summary of Meta's own current documentation (checked 2026-09-23) — not a live-probed audit of a real connected account, and it should be re-checked against Meta's live reference before being treated as current.

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By The SkedCast Team · Updated · 5 min read

Key takeaways

  • Facebook Page Insights deprecated roughly 100 metrics across three documented waves: March 2024 (60+ metrics, mostly engagement/demographics/clicks), June 2025 (20 metrics, impressions-family), and November 2025 (18 metrics, including page_fans and page_impressions).
  • The consistent replacement pattern: "impressions"-based metrics are being replaced by "views"-based ones (e.g. page_impressions_unique to page_total_media_view_unique) and "fans"-based metrics by "follows"-based ones (page_fans to page_follows).
  • Instagram's currently-listed supported metrics are narrower and simpler than Facebook's: impressions, reach and profile views at the account level; engagement, impressions, reach, comments, likes and views at the media level — with "total" variants of comments/likes/views available only for Instagram API with Facebook Login.
  • This page is explicitly WebSearched-and-dated against Meta's documentation, not a live probe of a real connected account's actual API responses — Meta's metrics deprecation schedule has moved substantially in the recent past and should be expected to keep moving.

Instagram insights API metrics: three waves of Facebook Page Insights deprecation

According to Meta's own deprecated-metrics documentation, March 2024 deprecated over 60 metrics spanning engagement, demographics, clicks and activity (e.g. page_engaged_users, page_positive_feedback, post_activity). June 2025 deprecated 20 more, concentrated in the impressions family (page_posts_impressions and its paid/viral/nonviral/unique variants, post_impressions_unique replaced by post_total_media_view_unique). November 2025 deprecated 18 further metrics, including page_fans (replaced by page_follows), page_fans_country/city (replaced by page_follows_country/city), and page_impressions itself (replaced by page_media_view).

The consistent pattern across all three waves: Meta is retiring "impressions"-framed metrics in favor of "views"-framed ones, and "fans"-framed metrics in favor of "follows"-framed ones. A call to a deprecated metric name now returns an invalid-metric error rather than data.

What Instagram Insights currently lists as supported

Instagram's own Insights documentation, checked directly, currently lists a narrower supported set than Facebook's: at the account/user level, impressions, reach, and profile views; at the media level, engagement, impressions, reach, comments, likes, views, and "total" variants of comments/likes/views (the total variants are noted as available only for Instagram API with Facebook Login, not every integration path). Meta's documentation as fetched did not surface any deprecated-or-removed Instagram metric list with associated dates the way the Facebook Page Insights deprecated-metrics page does.

Why this is framed as WebSearched, not live-probed

This page reflects what Meta's own documentation states as of the check date above, gathered by reading Meta's current developer pages directly — it is not the result of actually calling the Insights API against a real, live-connected account and observing which metric names return data versus an error today. Meta's metrics list has changed substantially and repeatedly over the past two years, so treat this as a dated snapshot to be re-verified against Meta's live documentation (or, better, a real API call) rather than a permanent fact.

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FAQ

Is the page_impressions metric still usable on Facebook?
No — it was deprecated in the November 2025 wave and replaced by page_media_view; calling page_impressions now returns an invalid-metric error rather than data.
What replaced page_fans as a Facebook Page metric?
page_follows — page_fans and its city/country breakdowns were deprecated in November 2025 in favor of the equivalent page_follows-based metrics.
Does Instagram Insights have the same metrics as Facebook Page Insights?
No — Instagram's currently-documented set is narrower: impressions, reach and profile views at the account level, plus engagement, impressions, reach, comments, likes and views at the media level, with fewer historical deprecation waves documented than Facebook's.
Was this page built from a live API call against a real account?
No — it is a WebSearched and dated summary of Meta's own current documentation pages, checked on the date shown, not a live probe of an actual connected account's real API responses. Treat it as a snapshot to re-verify, not a guarantee of today's exact API behavior.
How many Facebook Page Insights metrics has Meta deprecated recently?
Roughly 100 across three documented waves — over 60 in March 2024, 20 in June 2025, and 18 in November 2025 — with the pattern consistently replacing "impressions" and "fans" metrics with "views" and "follows" equivalents.
What happens if code still calls a deprecated Meta Insights metric?
The API returns an invalid-metric error rather than data, so any dashboard or reporting code still referencing a deprecated metric name needs to be updated to its documented replacement.

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