How Post History is Collected
When browsing an influencer's profile in Lefty, the posts you see represent a partial history of their content, not necessarily everything they have ever published.
Lefty builds an influencer's post history in two layers:
The Initial Snapshot: When an influencer is first added to a Directory, Lefty retrieves a limited baseline of their recent content. The exact amount collected depends strictly on the social network's rules and the type of content (see the table below).
Progressive Enrichment: Once an influencer is active in Lefty (part of a Campaign), Lefty begins tracking their posts daily. All newly tracked content is permanently added on top of their baseline, progressively building a richer history over time.
Post History Limits by Network
When viewing an influencer's general Portfolio, the initial historical data we can collect is subject to the limits set by each platform's API.
Use this reference table to understand how far back our initial snapshot reaches for each network:
Network | Max Posts Collected | Time Window |
Instagram (Posts) | Up to 500 posts | Last 6 months |
Instagram (Stories) | None (No retroactive history) | Campaign-tracked only |
YouTube | Up to 500 videos | Past 5 years |
X (Twitter) | Up to 500 posts | Last 6 months |
TikTok | Up to 200 posts | Last 6 months |
Up to 500 posts | Past 1 year | |
Up to 200 posts | Last 30 days | |
Douyin | Up to 200 posts | Past 1 year |
RED (Xiaohongshu) | Up to 200 posts | Past 1 year |
Snapchat | Up to 200 posts | Last 30 days |
Up to 15 posts | Last 2 months |
⚠️ Important note on Instagram Stories: Social network APIs do not allow retroactive collection of ephemeral content. Stories are only collected and saved if the influencer is actively tracked within a Campaign when the Story is published.
Portfolio View vs. Campaign View
Depending on where you are looking in Lefty, the content displayed follows different rules:
Portfolio View: Shows all collected content associated with that influencer, regardless of the campaign. This view is subject to the historical limits outlined in the table above.
Campaign View: Shows only the specific content tracked within that individual campaign. Because this data is collected in real-time while the campaign is active, it is not subject to the retroactive historical limits.
Troubleshooting: Why is some content missing?
If you are looking at an influencer's profile and cannot find a specific older post, it is usually due to one of three reasons:
Platform API restrictions: Some networks restrict historical data heavily. For example, Facebook only allows us to retrieve a maximum of 15 posts from the last 2 months.
The influencer was recently added: If they were just added to Lefty, you are only seeing their initial snapshot. Their history will build progressively the longer they remain in your Directories or Campaigns.
It was an Instagram Story: Stories cannot be pulled retroactively. If they posted a Story before they were added to an active Lefty campaign, we cannot retrieve it.