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Common Data Discrepancies

Common data gaps between the old and new Social Dashboard and why they exist

Heather Clark avatar
Written by Heather Clark
Updated this week

This article outlines the data you can expect to see in the new Social Dashboard and how it compares to the previous version. These improvements are part of ongoing efforts to enhance accuracy in the new dashboard. Our goal is to provide transparency into the specific changes to your metrics to help your team understand the impact.

Small Variations in Key Social Metrics

Discrepancy Reason

Explanation

Marginally higher or lower impressions (difference of less than 20)

Minor differences in impression counts may occur due to recent updates to our Instagram Story impression estimation model, as well as changes in Instagram’s definition of a “view.”

Slight differences (less than 5%) in metrics

Small differences under 5% are normal and can happen due to rounding, slight shifts in how timestamps are aligned, or improvements in how we pull data from social platforms.

Differences in Post Visibility

Discrepancy Reason

Explanation

Post was published on the end date of your selected date range

The old and new dashboards handle timestamp boundaries slightly differently, which may cause the post to appear in one dashboard and not the other.

Post was added after its original publish date

Some posts were added after their original publish date (e.g., via manual upload or social listening) and fell outside the filtering logic in the old dashboard, so they were not visible. The new dashboard accounts for these delayed additions and includes them when appropriate.

Stricter filtering

Stricter filtering in the new dashboard may exclude posts that previously appeared in the old dashboard.


For example, a post published just before your selected range might now be excluded if it no longer has metrics within that window — especially if time zone differences or delayed syncs caused mismatches in the old system.

Post was missing from the old dashboard, but now appears in the new dashboard

Some posts were not properly tracked or displayed in the old dashboard due to ingestion issues or system bugs. The new dashboard includes improvements to data processing and reliability, so these posts are now visible.

Fewer posts appear when filtering by insight date

In the old dashboard, some posts over a year old continued to show updated metrics due to occasional data refreshes. The new dashboard stops updating post metrics 12 months after the publish date. As a result, these older posts may now appear static or be excluded when filtering by insight date.

Data Quality Improvements

Discrepancy Reason

Explanation

Missing or incomplete Instagram Story insights

Instagram Stories expire 24 hours after being published. In some cases, metrics weren’t fully captured because the Story expired before data could be fetched, or the fetch occurred too late. As a result, insights for that Story may be missing or incomplete in the dashboard.

Views matched, but other metrics changed

Views stayed the same while other metrics like impressions or engagements changed. This is typically due to data being reprocessed or refreshed, which can affect certain metrics while leaving others (like views) unchanged.

Data Access Limitations

Discrepancy Reason

Explanation

Missing Paid vs. Organic split for an Instagram Post or Reel

Only combined metrics are shown because the creator hasn’t linked their Instagram Insights. To view the breakdown between paid and organic performance, the creator must connect their Instagram Insights.

Post shows more engagements than impressions

If a creator’s Instagram Insights are no longer linked, we cannot continue collecting updated impression data, so that number remains static. However, engagements such as likes and comments may still increase over time, leading to a scenario where engagements appear higher than impressions

Engagement numbers in Aspire don’t match Instagram

Engagement totals in Aspire may differ from what you or creators see directly on Instagram. This is because Aspire updates post metrics at scheduled intervals, whereas Instagram displays real-time data. As a result, slight differences are expected.

Instagram Reel impressions are lower in Aspire than on Instagram

If an Instagram Reel is boosted through other platforms, like Facebook, those additional impressions won’t appear in Aspire unless your brand’s ad account is connected.

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