Minnesota Creator Data: Methodology & Update History
See what each Minnesota dataset measures, when its records were verified, how entity and geography decisions are handled, and how future corrections or historical snapshots will be preserved.
One maintained data product
Ten datasets with distinct information jobs
Nine source datasets and one derived historical report make up these ten catalog entries. They are not ten independently collected samples. The current 47-creator directory and the report’s historical 35-record cohort use different editions and denominators; open each catalog entry for its scope.
The directories support discovery; the ranking datasets answer bounded numerical questions. Shared methods and source vocabulary connect these resources without rewriting their dated observations. Field names and identity namespaces vary; exact joins require the documented keys or a verified crosswalk.
Audience sources and Minnesota-geography sources remain separate unless one source genuinely supports both facts.
Dataset catalog
What each dataset owns
Each version describes a different measurement or directory purpose. Open the page for the public presentation or download its JSON snapshot.
state-of-creators-v1
State of Minnesota Creators 2026
Derived analysis of statewide creator geography, categories, platform-audience rankings and dataset depth.
Directory inclusion, evidence refresh and version history
There is no audience threshold. Each current-directory entity needs sustained public digital work, an identifiable official platform and public evidence of a Minnesota creator or professional base. Shared projects are not new people; origins and historical associations belong in their own records.
Evidence is reviewed when a source breaks, a public professional-base change is reported, an account identity changes or a correction arrives. An undated source keeps a null publication date. A later review does not silently become a new event date or audience observation. Unresolved contradictions are held, with prior editions preserved.
Each coverage edition pins exact JSON bytes, SHA-256 hashes and a prior-manifest link. Current URLs may evolve; fixed editions are never overwritten. Historical audience comparisons are not reranked when a discovery card is added. Citation requests should use the fixed edition and the relevant record’s evidence date.
October 29 coverage review added nine statewide entries, two also in the metro subset. Seven reuse identities already present in platform research. This is directory expansion, not evidence of a growing Minnesota creator population. Read the reproducible current findings · Submit a sourced factual correction.
Citations and reproducibility
Use a fixed download edition
The reference-2026-10-29-reliability manifest pins the current files and dated geography follow-up and reuses unchanged October 28 inputs. Previous editions remain available byte for byte. It does not refresh follower counts or reverify a person’s location. Cite the resource title, publisher, original observation date and exact download edition; the linked citation files include the stable owner URL and a SHA-256 checksum. The public-figure file retains its September 22 snapshot, while audience files retain their own earlier dates.
On narrow screens, scroll the table sideways to read counts and download links.
Ten cataloged core datasets: actual primary record arrays in this edition
Record units: a person and a creator group are distinct units. Partial and excluded research records are not ranked observations.
Identity: records, ranked_creators and derived summary objects have different shapes. Names are display labels, not universal join keys.
Audience: retain approximate flags and unresolved states. Never turn rounded values, nulls or missing accounts into exact measurements or zero.
Geography and time: source publication, audience observation, geography review and download-edition dates have different meanings. Use only the precision the source supports.
Provenance: public source URLs and claim notes remain in the original JSON. The field inventory documents structure; it does not represent a fresh review of every external source.
Known limits of this edition
The reliability edition has 47 statewide records; its metro subset has 31, with 31 exact shared IDs. The previous coverage edition retains 44/29 membership. The preceding fixed October 29 edition retains its 35/27 membership. The non-exclusive-base decision is documented below. The fixed October 28 edition retains its original 34/27/26 membership. No historical audience record or rank was changed.
The September report retains its historical 35-creator analysis and 16-record YouTube cohort. The current YouTube download has 15 ranked and 11 partial records. The fixed report download preserves derived statistics only; seven exact historical inputs have been located, but the famous-people input remains missing. Do not recalculate that report by substituting current directories or claim that this bundle fully reproduces it.
Publisher and rights: this research is published on Josh Liljenquist’s official website, and Josh appears in several datasets. The same documented criteria apply to him. This is not independent peer review, an endorsement or a new open-content license. Existing third-party source rights and correction limits remain.
What does a Minnesota influencer list actually measure?
A creator’s public professional base, birthplace and audience location answer different questions. Before comparing lists, identify who or what is counted, the geographic rule and the observation period.
On narrow screens, scroll the comparison table horizontally.
Choose a source that matches your research question
Question
Unit and geographic rule
Source and limitation
Who works as a creator in Minnesota?
Creator entities with a documented current Minnesota creator or professional base; one entity may have several accounts.
Our 47-record selected directory links public geographic evidence and official accounts. It is not a count of every Minnesota creator or a ranking of fame.
Who is originally from Minnesota?
Documented hometown or birthplace; current professional base is a separate fact.
Audience location rather than proof of the creator’s own professional base.
Modash’s Minneapolis list orders its displayed creators by the percentage of their audience in Minneapolis. That ordering is not a ranking of creators by Minnesota residence.
How many matching profiles posted in a month?
Unique profiles that posted at least once and match a provider’s category keywords or phrases.
Sprout Social’s Minnesota page defines its active-profile measure this way. Profile counts are not directly comparable with our selected creator-entity count.
How many Minnesota influencers are there? These sources do not establish a complete statewide total. We can verify the scope of our selected records, not estimate everyone omitted. Do not add list totals together, treat accounts as unique people or infer a private address from audience geography.
Provider method descriptions checked October 30, 2026. This comparison does not refresh our historical audience observations or independently validate provider estimates. For follower and subscriber comparisons, see the platform measurement rules below; for our inclusion evidence, see the directory maintenance rules.
Why platform audience comparisons give different answers
“Most followed” depends on which accounts qualify, which counts are sufficiently verified and which creators meet the geographic rules. This table describes the fixed reference-2026-10-29 editions; packaging did not refresh their audience observations.
Core 4 combines account-level followers and subscribers. YouTube can combine qualifying channels. TikTok, Instagram and Facebook each use one primary account or presence. None measures unique people, engagement, fame or economic contribution.
On narrow screens, scroll the comparison table horizontally.
One verified primary creator presence; followers rather than likes or friends.
17
10
Partial records are not zero and do not receive an ordinal rank. Each row has its own eligible population; do not add these counts to estimate a unique creator population or compare their totals as market shares. Josh’s records follow the same published account and eligibility rules.
Reproduce these current-edition tables
Save the ten fixed JSON files from the edition inventory in one folder, then run the Python reproduction script with that folder as its argument. It uses only the Python standard library, verifies the exact source hashes, prints the geography and completeness tables, and makes no network requests or file changes. It does not reproduce the historical report or refresh any observation.
The current YouTube edition contains 15 ranked and 11 partial records. The historical September report retains its earlier 16-record YouTube cohort. Current downloads must not be substituted for the report’s missing historical input set. See the historical source-edition limits.
October 29 geography decision
Documented current creator or professional base may be non-exclusive. Birthplace, hometown, historical residence, property ownership or a filming visit alone does not qualify. Multiple or seasonal bases must remain explicit; no claim of exclusive residence or physical presence today.
Six existing source records were rechecked. The Braces Guy is documented through a Rochester professional practice; Fit Foodie Finds through a Twin Cities business relationship. These are professional connections, not private residence verification. Other original record-level dates remain unchanged.
For Squirmy and Grubs, the university’s October 28 event biography identifies Minneapolis, while the June 29, 2025 independent interview describes seasonal Minneapolis and Los Angeles bases. This supports non-exclusive Minnesota creator eligibility. The event date is known; the institutional biography’s publication date is not. Institutional hosting is not independent endorsement.
The preceding October 29 edition recorded 35/27/27 statewide/metro/shared IDs. The previous coverage edition records 44/29/29; the reliability edition records 47/31/31. The fixed October 28 files retain 34/27/26. Four platform files carry this same current-geography supplement while preserving every historical ranked and partial array. The current review cannot retroactively establish physical location on an audience-observation date.
Historical report: exact input availability
Seven of the eight required SHA-256-matched historical files have been located. Four are already public fixed inputs; three remain private and are not redistributed. The historical famous-people file is still missing. The bounded local search checked 476 copies of that filename without finding its required hash.
The missing input is famous-people-minnesota-2026.json, SHA-256 b8049d844b2869abdb645ac32698d43b8196f44de3bb90823b5fc657f15f7cca. A current file with the same name is not a substitute.
Use these contracts with the exact fixed JSON. The historical derived report is separate. Counts below describe observed records, not every Minnesota creator. Null, a missing field, a rounded count and a verified zero have different meanings.
Minnesota Creator Index
Unit and population
One creator person or group per records entry. Twelve researched records: five COMPLETE and seven INCOMPLETE; this is a bounded comparison, not a census.
Identity
entity_id is the established dataset identity key; creator is a display label. Group accounts belong to the group, not separately to every member.
Measurement
tiktok, instagram, youtube, facebook and core4 are source-formatted audience strings. Core 4 combines qualifying controlled accounts across four platforms, including approved secondary accounts. It counts account followers/subscriptions, not unique people.
Time
snapshotDate is the original September audience snapshot. Preserve rounding and channel scope written inside each string; geography and download-edition dates are different.
Missing values
INCOMPLETE and unresolved strings are not zero. officialAccountsIncluded counts accounts, not audience. No numerical rank should be assigned by coercing unresolved strings.
Sources and geography
Use the stated account-control and current-Minnesota criteria with the original source notes. Josh follows the same rule; owner-published research is not independent recognition.
Exact keys in this edition: identity records[].entity_id; edition date snapshotDate. Use the pinned source below; display names are not a cross-dataset identity key.
One Person or Organization per records entry. The current directory contains 47 entities, including 31 exact metro IDs. It is unranked and has no audience threshold.
Identity
entity_id joins established exact IDs with the metro directory. display_name and aliases are labels, not universal join keys.
Measurement
core4_total is an optional cross-reference to a separately measured comparison, not the basis of inclusion or ordering. Never sum directory rows to infer a statewide audience.
Time
dataset.snapshot_date preserves the original edition lineage. Record geography_verified_date is an evidence review; geography_source_date is a publication date when known. The October 29 review applies only to identified records.
Missing values
audience_threshold null means no threshold. core4_total/core4_approximate/core4_dataset_url null means no resolved cross-reference, not zero audience. official_website null means none verified in this record. Empty aliases means none recorded.
Sources and geography
qualification_type separates creator base, professional practice and self-reported residence. A non-exclusive base may qualify when explicitly sourced; birthplace, historical residence, property or a visit alone do not. geography_source_class records who supports the claim; an undated biography is not a dated residence reaffirmation.
Exact keys in this edition: identity records[].entity_id; edition date dataset.snapshot_date. Use the pinned source below; display names are not a cross-dataset identity key.
Minneapolis & Twin Cities Influencers and Content Creators
Unit and population
One creator entity per records entry; 31 exact entity IDs are a subset of the reviewed statewide directory. Do not add the two directory counts.
Identity
entity_id is shared with the statewide directory; a creator group remains one Organization record.
Measurement
This is a geography directory, not an audience rank. dataset.geographic_counts and category_counts are counts of directory records, not people reached.
Time
Keep record-level geography review dates. The October 29 targeted review does not refresh every creator’s location; a source event date is not its publication date.
Missing values
core4_* null means unresolved/unavailable comparison data. official_website null means no verified website recorded. source_date null means the publication date is unknown.
Sources and geography
City evidence is not interchangeable with metro-only evidence. Non-exclusive creator/professional bases qualify only with explicit source context. No private address, inferred neighborhood or current physical-presence claim is published.
Exact keys in this edition: identity records[].entity_id; edition date dataset.snapshot_date. Use the pinned source below; display names are not a cross-dataset identity key.
One public figure or group per records entry, unranked. The source file has 36 records; it describes documented current Minnesota relationships, not all famous Minnesotans.
Identity
entity_id is the established identity key for each records entry in this source namespace; name, display_name and aliases are display labels. Join only documented exact IDs; do not infer cross-dataset identity from names.
Measurement
There is no fame score, audience ranking or population estimate. relationshipClasses can contain multiple supported relationships per entity and must not be summed as unique people.
Time
snapshotDate is September 22 in this source. verifiedDate is an evidence-review date; sources[].sourceDate is the publication date where known. These are distinct from download packaging.
Missing values
A null sourceDate means unknown publication date, not today. Empty arrays mean no records in that field, not evidence that no relationship exists. Missing optional profile references are not zero.
Sources and geography
Each source has claim-specific scope. Current residence, professional base, formative ties and other relationships must follow their explicit classification; origin alone does not prove a current base.
Exact keys in this edition: identity records[].entity_id; edition date snapshotDate. Use the pinned source below; display names are not a cross-dataset identity key.
One internet-native public identity per records entry; 25 bounded records across eras. Current, origin, formative and historical ties are separate.
Identity
recordId identifies the directory record; canonicalEntityId identifies the entity in this source namespace. name and onlineName are display labels. Preserve existingSiteMemberships; do not split alternate names into duplicate people or combine a group and its members.
Measurement
This is an unranked discovery inventory. Chronology buckets and summaries describe this inventory, not the Minnesota creator population or audience shares.
Time
Snapshot, first-public-work chronology and source verification are different dates. Uncertain or coarse date ranges must retain their precision.
Missing values
Null or absent optional dates/profile fields mean unknown or unrecorded. Do not infer current residence from an omitted move date or historical Minnesota connection.
Sources and geography
Use the connection statement and public source for each relationship. A past connection does not meet the current-base criterion of a separate audience ranking.
Exact keys in this edition: identity records[].recordId, records[].canonicalEntityId; edition date dataset.reviewedAt. Use the pinned source below; display names are not a cross-dataset identity key.
Subscribers across qualifying publicly verified creator-controlled channels; multiple approved channels may be summed. The existing edition has 15 ranked and 11 partial records. Neither array is a complete census.
Identity
slug_or_id identifies the existing creator or group in ranked_creators. Channel/account IDs and URLs identify presences, not additional unique people.
Measurement
rank applies only to the sufficiently verified ranked_creators array. qualifying account/channel arrays define what was counted. Preserve count approximation flags, source units and account-control limits.
Time
The original audience snapshot and individual *_verified_date fields govern count reuse. A source publication date, October geography supplement and eventual website release date are separate.
Missing values
Partially verified, excluded or elsewhere records are separate research states. A known minimum is a floor, not a complete total; null/unresolved is not zero. A verified absence of an eligible account may be zero only where explicitly documented.
Sources and geography
Audience URLs support counts/account control; Minnesota source URLs support geography. The current_geography_supplement is a later review and does not modify the historical audience cohort, ranks or measurements. Non-exclusive bases are explicit; a new comparable edition is required before reranking.
Exact keys in this edition: identity ranked_creators[].slug_or_id; edition date dataset.snapshot_date. Use the pinned source below; display names are not a cross-dataset identity key.
Followers on one primary official TikTok account; secondary accounts are not added. The existing edition has 11 ranked and 10 partial records. Neither array is a complete census.
Identity
slug_or_id identifies the existing creator or group in ranked_creators. Channel/account IDs and URLs identify presences, not additional unique people.
Measurement
rank applies only to the sufficiently verified ranked_creators array. qualifying account/channel arrays define what was counted. Preserve count approximation flags, source units and account-control limits.
Time
The original audience snapshot and individual *_verified_date fields govern count reuse. A source publication date, October geography supplement and eventual website release date are separate.
Missing values
Partially verified, excluded or elsewhere records are separate research states. A known minimum is a floor, not a complete total; null/unresolved is not zero. A verified absence of an eligible account may be zero only where explicitly documented.
Sources and geography
Audience URLs support counts/account control; Minnesota source URLs support geography. The current_geography_supplement is a later review and does not modify the historical audience cohort, ranks or measurements. Non-exclusive bases are explicit; a new comparable edition is required before reranking.
Exact keys in this edition: identity ranked_creators[].slug_or_id; edition date dataset.snapshot_date. Use the pinned source below; display names are not a cross-dataset identity key.
Followers on one primary official Instagram account; secondary accounts are not added. The existing edition has 12 ranked and 8 partial records. Neither array is a complete census.
Identity
slug_or_id identifies the existing creator or group in ranked_creators. Channel/account IDs and URLs identify presences, not additional unique people.
Measurement
rank applies only to the sufficiently verified ranked_creators array. qualifying account/channel arrays define what was counted. Preserve count approximation flags, source units and account-control limits.
Time
The original audience snapshot and individual *_verified_date fields govern count reuse. A source publication date, October geography supplement and eventual website release date are separate.
Missing values
Partially verified, excluded or elsewhere records are separate research states. A known minimum is a floor, not a complete total; null/unresolved is not zero. A verified absence of an eligible account may be zero only where explicitly documented.
Sources and geography
Audience URLs support counts/account control; Minnesota source URLs support geography. The current_geography_supplement is a later review and does not modify the historical audience cohort, ranks or measurements. Non-exclusive bases are explicit; a new comparable edition is required before reranking.
Exact keys in this edition: identity ranked_creators[].slug_or_id; edition date dataset.snapshot_date. Use the pinned source below; display names are not a cross-dataset identity key.
Followers on one primary creator Facebook presence; not likes, friends, group members, views or reach. The existing edition has 17 ranked and 10 partial records. Neither array is a complete census.
Identity
slug_or_id identifies the existing creator or group in ranked_creators. Channel/account IDs and URLs identify presences, not additional unique people.
Measurement
rank applies only to the sufficiently verified ranked_creators array. qualifying account/channel arrays define what was counted. Preserve count approximation flags, source units and account-control limits.
Time
The original audience snapshot and individual *_verified_date fields govern count reuse. A source publication date, October geography supplement and eventual website release date are separate.
Missing values
Partially verified, excluded or elsewhere records are separate research states. A known minimum is a floor, not a complete total; null/unresolved is not zero. A verified absence of an eligible account may be zero only where explicitly documented.
Sources and geography
Audience URLs support counts/account control; Minnesota source URLs support geography. The current_geography_supplement is a later review and does not modify the historical audience cohort, ranks or measurements. Non-exclusive bases are explicit; a new comparable edition is required before reranking.
Exact keys in this edition: identity ranked_creators[].slug_or_id; edition date snapshot_date. Use the pinned source below; display names are not a cross-dataset identity key.
The common model standardizes meaning while leaving each dated source snapshot intact.
Stable entity identities
Identity keys are preserved within their documented dataset namespaces. Several datasets share exact entity_id values, while others use slug_or_id or canonicalEntityId. Do not equate different keys through a display-name guess. Related groups and individuals remain separate when their audience ownership differs.
Current Minnesota eligibility
Current residence, creator base or professional base may qualify. Birthplace, former residence, school attendance or property ownership alone does not. Public city, metro, region or state-level geography is enough; private addresses are never required.
Audience value states
Exact: reproducible exact source value.
Approximate: source displayed a rounded value.
Verified minimum: known accounts establish a floor.
Unresolved: account, ownership or count is unknown.
Verified zero: a qualifying presence was confirmed absent.
Source provenance
Audience accounts support audience values. Official biographies, institutional records and independent or local reporting support geography. First-party owner evidence may inform a record without publishing private screenshots or sensitive metadata.
Groups and shared audiences
A group-owned audience belongs to the group once. It is not automatically assigned to individual members. Individual accounts may appear separately only when their ownership and audience are distinct.
Snapshot and review dates
A measurement snapshot records when a value was observed; an editorial review date records when eligibility or supporting evidence was checked. A later review does not refresh follower counts or overwrite the September 17, 2026 audience snapshot.
Public change record
Update history
Entries record substantive data, methodology, account, geography or source changes. Routine visual maintenance is not presented as a data correction.
Reference editions and catalog metadata
Added fixed public download editions, source hashes, field documentation and suggested citations. Aligned the public-figure catalog snapshot with its September 22 source date. Corrected the YouTube catalog to its existing 15 ranked and 11 partial records and September 27 geography review. Documented the statewide/metro overlap and identity-key limitations. No audience values, records, eligibility or ranks changed; the historical report remains unchanged.
Catalog projection correction
Synchronized the catalog and methodology page to the ten public datasets already listed in the machine-readable catalog.
Corrected the creator-directory catalog count to the 34 records in its public JSON and page schema.
No audience values, rank positions, measurement dates or directory scope changed.
Current-geography eligibility review
Current-only directories and rankings exclude records whose current base remains unresolved.
Audience observations remain dated September 17, 2026; this review does not refresh follower values.
Numerical positions and derived cohort statistics reflect eligibility holds. Prior partial and historical connections remain separately documented.
State of Minnesota Creators 2026 report added
Published a derived analysis of the existing Minnesota creator datasets.
Added reproducible geography, category, platform-depth and audience-distribution statistics.
No ranking values, positions, rosters or platform methods changed.
Statewide creator parent directory expanded
Expanded the canonical statewide creator directory from 14 to 49 deduplicated records.
Established the 36-record Minneapolis and Twin Cities directory as a geographic subset using shared canonical entity IDs.
No audience values, platform rankings or ranking positions changed.
Minneapolis and Twin Cities directory added
Added city and metro-level geography verification for 36 current creator entities.
Kept Minneapolis, St. Paul and other Twin Cities metro classifications distinct.
Published no metro audience ranking because comparable Core 4 records are not sufficiently complete across the cohort.
Initial cataloged Minnesota data release
Established the Minnesota Creator Index, Famous People directory and Minnesota Creators directory.
Established the YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook creator datasets.
Assigned methodology versions and a shared source and entity vocabulary.
No historical correction entries were fabricated for work preceding the first cataloged release.
Corrections
How factual changes are recorded
Public correction record
A correction entry may include its date, entity ID, dataset, affected field, previous value, new value, reason and public source. Private research notes and private evidence are not exposed.
No public correction entries are recorded in this initial catalog release.
A dated follower or subscriber snapshot changes materially or reaches its scheduled review.
Entity change
An official handle, account ownership, group structure or public identity changes.
Geography change
Current public evidence shows that a creator moved into or out of Minnesota.
Method change
A versioned methodology changes how accounts, groups or measurements qualify.
What sources support the 47 creator records?
Each directory entity has one recorded primary geography-source class; supporting links are additional evidence and are not counted again. This describes this selected edition’s documentation, not Minnesota’s creator population.
Primary recorded geography-source classes · 47-entity fixed directory
Recorded source class
Entities
established industry publication
1
independent reporting
1
institutional record
1
local newspaper
1
local reporting
9
official biography
18
official business profile
1
official professional profile
2
official website
3
professional record
9
publisher hosted profile
1
9 records store a source publication date; 38 do not. An unrecorded date does not establish that the source itself is undated. Review dates record a check, not a publication or event date. First-party biographies, professional profiles and participant accounts are not independent reporting; institutional hosting is not endorsement.
This reproduces the recorded source classes and date-field coverage. It does not recheck a creator’s current location, account audience or source independence.
Use the directory without reading raw JSON
Download all 47 public creator records as CSV. It includes identities, subject labels, broad public geography, official profiles, source classification and evidence dates. The companion Python helper reproduces the summary by default; add --records to reproduce the directory export from its fixed JSON.
Unknown publication dates are explicitly UNKNOWN_UNDATED; review dates are not publication dates. Platform cells are recorded labels, not ownership audits or measured audiences. Source rights and citation limits still apply. No private addresses, held leads, audience estimates or contact details are included.
