Facebook Graph API returns 'false' even though post is public

Question

In my application, most public posts seem to return \'false\' when accessed via the Graph API.

Example: https://graph.facebook.com/1543370206_2215254431220?access_to

Answer 1

I think I've solved it.

The posts which were returning false aren't 'public' as such. They seem to be visible to any Facebook user, regardless of whether they're friends with the author. However, if you're not logged into Facebook, you can't see them.

The posts which were succeeding were truly public. Most of them belonged to companies etc and you could see them whether you were logged into Facebook or not.

I guess the Graph API makes a distinction between these two types of visibilities e.g. 'Everyone on Facebook' and 'Everyone on the Internet'. I had a look in my privacy settings and can't figure out how this has been done.

Regardless, this isn't well-documented in the Graph API docs. Nor is returning 'false' an elegant way to handle this error. Nor is it consistent to allow me to see the post via search, but not query the object directly.