Product Overview of CrowdTangle
CrowdTangle was a powerful content discovery and analytics platform developed to help content creators, media publishers, journalists, and researchers track and analyze content performance across various social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram.
Key Purpose
CrowdTangle was designed to provide users with the data and insights necessary to understand and engage with content on social media. It served as a public insights tool that made it easy to follow, analyze, and report on public content trends.
Key Features
Real-Time Analytics
One of the core features of CrowdTangle was its real-time analytics capability. This allowed users to monitor post performance with up-to-the-minute data, gain insights into trending topics and emerging narratives, and access engagement metrics such as likes, shares, and comments instantly.
Content Discovery Tools
CrowdTangle boasted robust content discovery tools that enabled users to identify viral content across Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. It offered advanced search filters to pinpoint specific topics or themes and provided custom alerts about emerging stories or developments.
Competitive Analysis and Intelligence
The platform allowed users to compare different elements over time, providing in-depth insights into the activity of Pages, profiles, and groups. This intelligence feature was particularly valuable for understanding content trends, engagement behaviors, and the performance of competitors.
Database Access
CrowdTangle provided access to a database containing public Facebook pages, groups, and public Instagram accounts. It automatically included public Facebook pages and groups with significant followings (100,000 or more likes, followers, or members, except for US-based public groups which required 2,000 members) and all public Instagram accounts with 75,000 or more followers. Users could also manually add any public Facebook page, group, or Instagram account.
Functionality
- Tracking and Analysis: Users could track the performance of specific content, pages, and accounts in real-time, allowing for immediate insights into engagement and trends.
- Trending Content Identification: The platform helped users identify what content was going viral and why, enabling them to stay ahead of emerging narratives and trends.
- Research and Reporting: CrowdTangle was widely used by researchers and journalists to track the spread of content, including false narratives and other potentially harmful content. It was instrumental in projects such as the “Facebook Top 10” bot created by Kevin Roose, which highlighted the most popular Facebook posts daily.
Access and Availability
Access to CrowdTangle was limited, with the platform only able to onboard a limited number of new partners. It was available through a collaboration framework with Facebook, and access was typically granted through specific programs such as those managed by Social Science One.
Discontinuation
As of August 14, 2024, CrowdTangle has been discontinued by Meta due to evolving technology and changing regulatory conditions. Meta has directed users to alternative tools like the Content Library and Ads Library, though these do not offer the same level of direct, user-friendly access and research capacity as CrowdTangle.