CrowdTangle, a social listening tool used across the media, entertainment, sports, and academic worlds, is, alas, no more. The tool had thousands of users worldwide and was used in critical work across elections, business development, and research. As these users search for an alternative, the question that has come up the most is: What do we actually need in a social listening tool in 2025 and beyond?
I was formerly on the CrowdTangle team and helped build the tool’s product and partner base. We worked to understand customer needs and the business context around that. As media teams search for a new social listening tool, here’s what years of product development in the social listening space has taught me:
The social media landscape has changed — you need a versatile tool that adapts
It’s not just about Facebook and X anymore. The social media landscape for publishers has undergone a seismic shift over the last decade. We’ve gone from the early days of viral content driven by media organizations (think BuzzFeed and Upworthy) on one or two platforms, to today’s complex, multi-platform and multi-format environment where news pages, creators, brands, and blogs are all competing for a user’s split-second of attention.
That means publishers are required to manage multiple platforms, post types, and strategies, while facing the challenge of fewer tools being available.
So success in this new environment depends on gathering holistic, real-time data across platforms. Publishers need a comprehensive view across more than half a dozen platforms, each with different content formats.
User attention today spans across not just Facebook and X, but also the likes of Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, LinkedIn and more. Each platform is unique in the way content is consumed and shared, not to mention the different audiences you might reach. What goes viral in one space won’t immediately go viral in the other.
Gathering data across these platforms and formats and centralizing the understanding of it is critical for any social listening tool.
The best product features are the ones that make your life easier, not more complicated
Don’t overthink what you want from a social listening tool. The product features you need are the ones that simplify your workflow, especially in a fast-paced newsroom environment.
One of the most important features is a simple, intuitive user interface. That’s right: If the UX is hard to manage and harder to understand the second you open it up, that should be a red flag. The tool should be easy to navigate, enabling quick adoption by teams without extensive training.
Beyond a clear UX, you want simple to use features. You’ll need to be able to hunt for key information quickly – so dynamic search capabilities, akin to a “Google search” for social media, are critical. This function allows users to quickly search for specific content across platforms, helping with competitive analysis, audience-building, and editorial needs.
Other key features might include a leaderboard — something easy to scan at a glance — to highlight top-performing posts, accounts, and trending keywords, offering insights into what’s gaining traction. Competitive benchmarking is also essential, enabling teams to monitor other publishers’ successes and viral content. Lastly, a real-time live feed is crucial, providing up-to-the-minute data and ensuring that the content shared or analyzed is always fresh and relevant.
Simple knowledge transfer makes a tool 10x more valuable
Amid these pressures, effective knowledge transfer between teams becomes essential. Teams need efficient ways to share expertise without adding extra complexity to the workflow. When systems or processes are too complicated, they can hinder productivity, making it harder for team members to collaborate and learn from one another.
This is where custom alerts and digests come in. A notification system utilizing email, Slack, etc. Slack alerts and team-wide notifications can streamline communications, ensuring important insights are shared promptly. Threshold alerts and predictive tools can prevent missed opportunities by flagging when performance exceeds or dips below expectations.
A holistic view of data is important
Despite the ongoing shifts at Meta, platforms like Facebook and Instagram continue to be essential for reaching large and diverse audiences. Both platforms have established user bases, making them invaluable for publishers who want to maintain broad visibility. Facebook’s integration with groups and pages, along with Instagram’s focus on visual content, allows for a mix of content types that can drive both engagement and traffic.
There has of course also been a massive pivot to video in the social space – as a result, YouTube and TikTok video data is essential when understanding what is trending in that space. These platforms rival Facebook and Instagram in importance.
However, publishers should not overlook LinkedIn and Reddit, which offer unique and often underutilized opportunities for audience engagement and strategic partnerships. LinkedIn provides access to a professional demographic, ideal for thought leadership, business networking, and industry-specific content. Reddit, on the other hand, is a hub for tightly-knit communities where organic discussions can build deep connections and foster loyal followings. By leveraging holistic data across these platforms alongside, publishers can diversify their audience strategies and maximize their reach. A tool that only reviews a slice of the whole social media space just won’t cut it.
Make your listening tool a partner in your work
To navigate today’s dynamic social environment, publishers must adopt agile, data-informed, and comprehensive social media strategies. A social listening tool that partners with them, provides in-depth customer support and resources, and is continually building new features of value is critical.
This sort of partnership will strengthen your digital presence, provide insights into evolving platform algorithms, and will open the door to innovative content formats, unique social media strategies, and the ability to tap into the most important stories and emerging trends happening on social media.
In short, having this partnership not only amplifies your reach but also serves as a strategic guide in navigating the complexities of social media. A tool like NewsWhip has been partnering with media companies for the last twelve years, and continues to add features that demystify social media and help journalists and audiences get the best out of it.
Whichever tool you decide on, keep in mind the following checklist:
- Find a tool that enhances a multi-platform strategy: It’s key to monitor data across numerous platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, LinkedIn, etc., to capture diverse audience behaviors and trends in real time.
- Prioritize usability and simplicity: Opt for tools with intuitive UX, dynamic search, competitive benchmarking, leaderboards, and real-time feeds to streamline workflows and improve team efficiency.
- Ensure a tool with effective knowledge transfer: Make sure to prioritize custom alerts and digest systems (like Slack or email notifications) to enhance communication and ensure critical insights are shared quickly across teams.
- Maximize a holistic data perspective: Your tooling should include data from video-centric platforms and text-based communities, leaderboards and high-level overviews, micro and macro metrics.
- Treat your tool as a strategic partner: Choose a listening tool that evolves with social media trends, offers strong customer support, and consistently builds features that help you stay agile and informed in a rapidly changing landscape.
For more on the social publishing landscape, check out NewsWhip’s latest report here.