Introduction
Welcome to the atrrr
vignette! This guide will delve
deeper into the functionalities offered by the package-
Before diving in, let’s clarify some terminology. In the context of Blue Sky, a post is referred to as a “skeet.” So, when we mention retrieving or working with “skeets,” we are talking about individual posts made on Blue Sky.
Now, let’s delve deeper into the functionalities that allow users to interact with skeets, followers, and their descriptions.
Installation
If you haven’t done so, you can install the development version of
atrrr like so (pak
works similar to remotes
here, but it’s what the cool kids use now :grin:):
# install.packages("pak")
pak::pak("JBGruber/atrrr")
Authentication
The first time you make a request, you will be prompted automatically
to enter your user handle and an app password to authenticate
atrrr
to communicate with BlueSky for you.
The page to generate app passwords is also automatically opened for you.
However, you can also trigger this process manually:
auth("jbgruber.bsky.social")
This can be useful if you want to replace an old token as it is permanently stored encrypted on disk.
Searching Posts
The AT protocol defines a search function at
app.bsky.feed.searchPosts
, however, it is not currently
active, as far as we could tell.
As soon as the functionality is added by BlueSky, we will implement it here.
Blue Sky Users and Skeets
Retrieve user info (get_user_info
)
A good starting point is understanding a user’s digital footprint on the platform. The get_user_info function becomes our handy tool, fetching an array of information about a user. All you need? Their handle!
get_user_info(actor = "atpr.bsky.social") |>
dplyr::glimpse()
#> Rows: 1
#> Columns: 8
#> $ did <chr> "did:plc:j42kj4qc5vfz34…
#> $ indexed_at <dttm> 1-01-01
#> $ actor_handle <chr> "atpr.bsky.social"
#> $ actor_name <chr> NA
#> $ actor_description <chr> NA
#> $ actor_avatar <chr> NA
#> $ viewer_data <list> [FALSE, FALSE, "at://d…
#> $ labels_data <list> []
This function gives us counts of followers, follows, posts for each user.
You can also retrieve information for multiple users by providing a vector of user handles:
get_user_info(actor = c("benguinaudeau.bsky.social", "atpr.bsky.social")) |>
dplyr::glimpse()
#> Rows: 2
#> Columns: 8
#> $ did <chr> "did:plc:vuvsifrusnjsys…
#> $ indexed_at <dttm> 2024-01-26 01:28:47, 1…
#> $ actor_handle <chr> "benguinaudeau.bsky.soc…
#> $ actor_name <chr> "Benjamin Guinaudeau", …
#> $ actor_description <chr> "Postdoc @CSMaP_NYU. \n…
#> $ actor_avatar <chr> "https://cdn.bsky.app/i…
#> $ viewer_data <list> [FALSE, FALSE, "at://d…
#> $ labels_data <list> [], []
Retrieve Skeets (get_skeets_authored_by
)
To fetch all the skeets by a specific user, use the
get_skeets_authored_by
function. Note this also
includes quote skeets and reskeets. You can also opt not to parse
the result by setting parse = FALSE
, however it is
recommended to use the default parse option which results in a (more)
tidy tibble.
get_skeets_authored_by(actor = "benguinaudeau.bsky.social", parse = TRUE) |>
dplyr::glimpse()
#> Rows: 25
#> Columns: 19
#> $ uri <chr> "at://did:plc:3ryku2cbgpazo…
#> $ cid <chr> "bafyreiabtdobd6w4scrbpqkvp…
#> $ author_handle <chr> "beamagistro.bsky.social", …
#> $ author_name <chr> "Beatrice Magistro", "Johan…
#> $ text <chr> "Excited to share my latest…
#> $ author_data <list> ["did:plc:3ryku2cbgpazoryt…
#> $ post_data <list> ["app.bsky.feed.post", "20…
#> $ embed_data <list> ["app.bsky.embed.images#vi…
#> $ reply_count <int> 0, 1, 4, 0, 0, 4, 0, 1, 9, …
#> $ repost_count <int> 6, 6, 8, 0, 0, 15, 2, 1, 44…
#> $ like_count <int> 12, 20, 12, 0, 1, 43, 6, 1,…
#> $ indexed_at <dttm> 2024-02-16 17:26:58, 2024-…
#> $ in_reply_to <chr> NA, NA, NA, NA, "at://did:p…
#> $ in_reply_root <chr> NA, NA, NA, NA, "at://did:p…
#> $ quotes <chr> NA, "at://did:plc:vgvueqvmb…
#> $ tags <list> <NULL>, "rstats", "rstats"…
#> $ mentions <list> <NULL>, <NULL>, <NULL>, <N…
#> $ links <list> <NULL>, <NULL>, <NULL>, <N…
#> $ is_reskeet <lgl> TRUE, TRUE, TRUE, FALSE, FA…
Feeling adventurous? Increase the limit
and explore more
of their content.
get_skeets_authored_by(actor = "favstats.bsky.social", limit = 30) |>
dplyr::glimpse()
#> Rows: 30
#> Columns: 19
#> $ uri <chr> "at://did:plc:46yyakot3bygh…
#> $ cid <chr> "bafyreihxsllmosnheuxhl234f…
#> $ author_handle <chr> "favstats.bsky.social", "r-…
#> $ author_name <chr> "Fabio Votta📊🐧 ", "R-Blog…
#> $ text <chr> "Made an invitation website…
#> $ author_data <list> ["did:plc:46yyakot3byghwqc…
#> $ post_data <list> ["app.bsky.feed.post", "20…
#> $ embed_data <list> ["app.bsky.embed.images#vi…
#> $ reply_count <int> 0, 0, 0, 4, 1, 0, 4, 0, 0, …
#> $ repost_count <int> 1, 1, 0, 0, 6, 3, 8, 8, 3, …
#> $ like_count <int> 5, 5, 2, 13, 20, 3, 12, 23,…
#> $ indexed_at <dttm> 2024-02-20 12:21:11, 2024-…
#> $ in_reply_to <chr> NA, NA, "at://did:plc:46yya…
#> $ in_reply_root <chr> NA, NA, "at://did:plc:46yya…
#> $ quotes <chr> NA, NA, NA, NA, "at://did:p…
#> $ tags <list> "rstats", <NULL>, <NULL>, …
#> $ mentions <list> <NULL>, <NULL>, <NULL>, <N…
#> $ links <list> <NULL>, <NULL>, <NULL>, <N…
#> $ is_reskeet <lgl> FALSE, TRUE, FALSE, FALSE, …
Who liked your Skeets?
The get_likes function allows you to extract detailed information about users who liked a specific post. By simply providing the post’s URL, you can get a list of users who expressed their appreciation for the content.
get_likes("https://bsky.app/profile/ryanlcooper.com/post/3kb42gayda52t") |>
dplyr::glimpse()
#> Rows: 25
#> Columns: 5
#> $ created_at <dttm> 2023-10-06 21:22:39, 2023-1…
#> $ indexed_at <dttm> 2023-10-06 21:22:39, 2023-1…
#> $ actor_handle <chr> "csehested.bsky.social", "da…
#> $ actor_name <chr> NA, "TassieDevyl", "Hans LeJ…
#> $ actor_data <list> ["did:plc:zzsj7hy3wec6fhbwu…
Who reposted your Skeets?
Reposts (or reskeets), akin to retweets on platforms like Twitter, amplify the reach of content by sharing it with a wider audience.
The get_reposts
function is designed to retrieve
information about users who reposted a specific piece of content.
get_reposts(post_url = "https://bsky.app/profile/ryanlcooper.com/post/3kb42gayda52t") |>
dplyr::glimpse()
#> Rows: 25
#> Columns: 8
#> $ did <chr> "did:plc:zyvmwfzbkt3igd…
#> $ indexed_at <dttm> 2024-01-26 00:03:39, 2…
#> $ actor_handle <chr> "zunguzungu.bsky.social…
#> $ actor_name <chr> "Aaron Bady", "Bertie R…
#> $ actor_description <chr> "Meat blood, bees, thin…
#> $ actor_avatar <chr> "https://cdn.bsky.app/i…
#> $ viewer_data <list> [FALSE, FALSE], [FALSE…
#> $ labels_data <list> [], [], [], [], [], []…
Exploring Connections: Get Followers and Follows
You can retrieve a list of followers and those followed by a user
through the get_followers
and get_follows
functions, respectively. This gives a glimpse of their social dynamics
on the platform.
get_followers
get_followers(actor = "benguinaudeau.bsky.social", limit = 200) |>
dplyr::glimpse()
#> Rows: 200
#> Columns: 8
#> $ did <chr> "did:plc:nol67uyam6hzj5…
#> $ indexed_at <dttm> 2024-02-29 13:50:12, 2…
#> $ actor_handle <chr> "dkarpa.bsky.social", "…
#> $ actor_name <chr> "David Karpa", "Rémi Pa…
#> $ actor_description <chr> "PhD-candidate UBremen.…
#> $ actor_avatar <chr> "https://cdn.bsky.app/i…
#> $ viewer_data <list> [FALSE, FALSE], [FALSE…
#> $ labels_data <list> [], [], [], [], [], []…
get_follows
atrrr:::get_follows(actor = "benguinaudeau.bsky.social", limit = 200) |>
dplyr::glimpse()
#> Rows: 174
#> Columns: 8
#> $ did <chr> "did:plc:3ryku2cbgpazor…
#> $ indexed_at <dttm> 2024-02-08 05:16:04, 2…
#> $ actor_handle <chr> "beamagistro.bsky.socia…
#> $ actor_name <chr> "Beatrice Magistro", "S…
#> $ actor_description <chr> "PostDoc @Caltech, thru…
#> $ actor_avatar <chr> "https://cdn.bsky.app/i…
#> $ viewer_data <list> [FALSE, FALSE], [FALSE…
#> $ labels_data <list> [], [], [], [], [], []…
You’ll notice each follower/following has a description (i.e. their bio). It’s a nifty way to get to know a bit about them at a glance!
Follower Network Visualization
This section guides you through the process of visualizing a follower network for a given user on Blue Sky. The primary focus is on the “skeets” (posts) and the interconnected relationships among followers.
The first step is to load some additional packages. Then we get the followers for the main user we are interested in. We will then delve deeper and fetch the followers for each of these followers.
library(ggplot2)
library(dplyr)
library(purrr)
library(tidyr)
library(igraph)
library(ggraph)
library(tidygraph)
# Retrieve the followers for the main user
some_followers <- get_followers(actor = "benguinaudeau.bsky.social", limit = 10)$actor_handle
# For each follower, retrieve their own set of followers.
# This provides a nested view of relationships.
followers_of_followers <- some_followers |>
purrr::map_dfr(~{
get_followers(actor = .x, limit = 200) |>
mutate(from = .x)
}) |>
dplyr::rename(to = actor_handle) |>
dplyr::select(from, to)
Building and Visualizing the Follower Network
# Construct the network graph and plot
graph <- igraph::graph_from_data_frame(followers_of_followers, directed = TRUE)
# Use ggraph to visualize the network.
ggraph::ggraph(graph, layout = "kk") +
ggraph::geom_edge_link() +
ggraph::geom_node_point(aes(size = tidygraph::centrality_pagerank())) +
ggplot2::theme_void()
Find people to follow
You can use a similar approach to find new people you might want to follow. First get all the people you already follow by quering your own account:
my_follows <- get_follows(actor = "jbgruber.bsky.social",
limit = 10)$actor_handle # limit only for demonstration
# For each account you follow, retrieve who they follow.
follows_of_follows <- my_follows |>
purrr::map_dfr(~{
get_followers(actor = .x, limit = 100) |>
mutate(from = .x)
})
# Now we can check which accounts are popular among the people you already follow
follows_of_follows |>
dplyr::filter(!actor_handle %in% my_follows) |> # exclude accounts you already follow
dplyr::count(actor_name, actor_handle, sort = TRUE)
#> # A tibble: 704 × 3
#> actor_name actor_handle n
#> <chr> <chr> <int>
#> 1 Johannes B. Gruber jbgruber.bsky.s… 9
#> 2 Center for Ballot Freedom fusionvoting.bs… 4
#> 3 David Karpa dkarpa.bsky.soc… 3
#> 4 Jacob Ware jacobware.bsky.… 3
#> 5 Jens Rydgren jensrydgren.bsk… 3
#> 6 edminkardes gorkem.me 3
#> 7 Adrian Florea aflorea.bsky.so… 2
#> 8 Brian O'Meara omearabrian.bsk… 2
#> 9 Darren Dahly statsepi.bsky.s… 2
#> 10 Erik Angner erikangner.com 2
#> # ℹ 694 more rows
The original account shows up in this overview, as do accounts that were excluded because of the limit set to do the demonstration.
But all of these accounts look intresting!