Social media investigations can unlock a wealth of evidence for legal, fraud, and criminal cases. But if you're not using the right social media investigation tools, your investigation is likely to be frustrating and inefficient—not to mention risky.
There’s always a risk that the social media platform may reveal your identity to the subject you’re investigating through suggested friends or an accidental click on a like button. And of course, there’s always a risk that the incriminating evidence you’ve found will be edited or deleted before you manage to preserve it. Worse perhaps, is the risk that said evidence won’t hold up in court because of how it was collected.
That’s why the right social media investigation tools are essential. They don’t just save time; they ensure that the evidence you collect is accurate, admissible, and properly preserved.
Headlines of major legal cases involving social media evidence
In this article, we'll cover the different kinds of social media investigation tools available, the benefits of using SOCMINT / social media investigation tools, our top 21 favorite social media investigation tools that will save you time and frustration, and finally, our favorite social media investigation resources for SOCMINT investigators.
If you’ve ever needed to:
…then you already know how valuable social media forensics can be.
Social media investigation tools can help SOCMINT investigators collect, analyze, and preserve digital evidence from platforms like Facebook, X (Formerly Twitter), Instagram, Reddit, Discord, and more. Instead of spending hours manually searching for posts or piecing together scattered data, digital investigation tools can streamline the process—saving time and making sure the evidence you collect stays intact and legally admissible.
There are several types of social media investigation tools for different aspects of social media forensics, depending on what you’re investigating:
If you're reading this, you've likely found yourself conducting social media investigations manually, and know how time-consuming and inefficient it can be.
SOCMINT investigators will spend hours:
Investigators need solutions that streamline evidence collection, ensure accuracy, and maintain legal integrity. This is where automation is key. Specialized tools can help you locate evidence faster, verify authenticity, and preserve findings in a legally admissible format.
Here are 22 of the most helpful social media investigation tools being used in digital investigations today.
What is it for? Locating social media profiles across multiple platforms.
By inputting a name or username, investigators can quickly identify linked accounts, even when users attempt to maintain anonymity.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Providing insights into a Reddit user’s activity, including posts, comments, and subreddit participation.
For investigators, Reddit can be a goldmine of information, and this tool helps consolidate a user’s digital footprint.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Collecting detailed data on Reddit users, including posts, comments, and interactions.
Similar to Reddit User Analyser, Redective allows social media investigators to collect detailed data on Reddit users. It aggregates all of their posts, comments, and interactions, making it easier to analyze behavior patterns and potential connections during social media forensics.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Filtering tweets by various criteria to track conversations, uncover deleted posts, and analyze public discussions.
X/Twitter’s built-in advanced search function is one of the simplest yet most effective social media investigation tools. Investigators can filter tweets by date, location, hashtags, and mentions to track conversations, uncover deleted posts, and analyze public discussions related to a case.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Gathering public data on an individual from various online sources.
WebMii is a people search tool that scans public databases, news sites, and social media platforms to compile user information. It is particularly useful for digital investigators who need to quickly gather public data on an individual.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? To identify personal, professional, and social information online.
Pipl Search is arguably the most sophisticated people search engine available to investigators. Pipl collects information from Internet sources like public records, listings, directories, and online archives—but it also boasts its own exclusive sources. Pipl has global coverage, with over three billion online identities and 25 billion individual identity records at its disposal. All you need is a single data point (like a name, phone number, or email address) and Pipl will quickly provide you with all available data for that person. This information can include associated social media accounts, all known telephone numbers, physical addresses, places of employment, educational history, etc.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Reverse image search to find the origin of an online image.
TinEye is an incredibly simple but useful online tool that allows you to conduct a reverse image search. All you need to do is upload an image to TinEye, and the tool will tell you where it appears on the Internet. So if, for example, you have an image associated with a Facebook profile, you can use TinEye to see where else that picture is used online—perhaps on another social media platform like Strava, YouTube, or TikTok. Have a look at the tutorial below to see how TinEye can help you find the origin of an image posted to social media.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Performing face recognition searches to find online images of a specific person.
This is particularly useful in helping to track individuals across various platforms.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Advanced facial recognition to find online images of a given face.
PimEyes is an advanced facial recognition tool that scans the internet for matches of a given face. Social media investigators frequently use it to track down individuals through photos that they appear in online.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Determining the location where a photo was taken, even without GPS metadata.
GeoSpy AI allows investigators to determine where a photo was taken by analyzing metadata and image patterns. This tool is valuable in social media investigations where geolocation plays a critical role, such as verifying an alibi or linking an image to a specific location. By leveraging AI-driven location data, investigators can extract valuable intelligence from photos even when GPS metadata is missing.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Determining the location of a photo by analyzing embedded GPS metadata.
Investigators can use it in social media investigations to find out and verify where an image was actually taken.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? In-depth analysis of digital images, including metadata extraction and error-level analysis (ELA).
Investigators use this tool in social media forensics to detect altered or manipulated images, ensuring authenticity in collected evidence.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Detecting image alterations and viewing metadata.
This forensic image analysis tool helps investigators detect image alterations and view metadata. It is valuable for social media forensics, ensuring that collected visual evidence has not been tampered with.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Analyzing Instagram accounts, tracking activity, and identifying connections.
Inflact offers multiple tools that can be used for social media investigations on Instagram, including an Instagram downloader, profile analyzer, search tool, and anonymous viewer. Investigators can use these tools to track activity, analyze engagement patterns, and identify connections between Instagram accounts.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Real-time analysis of trending X/Twitter topics and their geographic origins.
Social media investigators can use it to track public sentiment, monitor crisis events, or investigate how misinformation spreads. By mapping out where tweets originate, investigators gain insights into user activity and regional trends.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Searching message boards, forums, and blogs for relevant discussions.
Since a lot of investigative content exists outside mainstream social media, this tool is useful for social media investigations that require deeper analysis beyond Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Extracting text from images, PDFs, and scanned documents.
This tool extracts text from images, PDFs, and scanned documents, making it invaluable for investigators handling screenshots, handwritten notes, or non-searchable documents. Social media investigators can use it to convert visual evidence into searchable text for analysis.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Tracking race and sports participation records.
In insurance fraud cases, investigators can use it to verify if someone claiming an injury has been participating in marathons or triathlons, contradicting their claim.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Checking whether an email address has been compromised in a data breach.
It is a useful resource in social media investigations, as exposed emails often link to social media accounts, giving investigators additional leads.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Downloading Instagram videos and photos for documentation purposes.
Though not explicitly meant for digital investigations, Blastup provides tools that can assist in downloading Instagram videos and photos for documentation purposes.
Disclaimer: While this tool can help collect evidence for social media forensics, investigators must ensure that any saved content is authentic and legally admissible. For evidence to stand up in court, you have to ensure that the evidence was not tampered with after downloading. Screenshots or simple downloads alone are not enough—authentication through digital signatures or hash values is recommended to prove that the data has not been altered after downloading.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Retrieving archived versions of websites and web pages.
It is a critical tool for retrieving deleted content and helping investigators uncover erased posts, website updates, or missing social media pages that may contain valuable evidence.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
What is it for? Automated forensic preservation of social media and web content in legally-defensible format.
WebPreserver is an automated forensic preservation tool for social media and web content that can literally complete weeks of evidence collection in under an hour. Its auto-expand feature automatically expands long collapsed posts, comment threads, and replies, ensuring hidden content is captured without you having to manually expand these sections. WebPreserver can even capture entire websites, Instagram accounts, and videos in two clicks. WebPreserver is a browser-based plugin compatible with but you need to purchase a license through the WebPreserver website. See how the tool works by visiting this page—or simply check out the video below.
Key Features:
Specific Use Cases:
Pricing:
For social media investigators and OSINT professionals, having the right online resources is just as important as having the right tools. These SOCMINT and internet investigation websites provide essential resources for investigators.
What is it for? A directory of OSINT tools for finding publicly available information.
OSINT Framework is a well-organized directory of OSINT tools designed to help investigators find publicly available information across the internet. It provides categorized resources for tracking social media activity, domain lookups, email searches, and more. Whether you need to locate a user’s online footprint or gather background information, this site is a go-to resource for digital investigation tools.
What is it for? Identifying the latest social media platforms and apps.
Have you ever heard of Peanut, Caffeine, or Steemit? What about Ello, Triller, or WT Social? While it can feel as if platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube dominate the social media landscape, new apps and platforms are being released all the time. Makeawebsitehub.com regularly updates a list of the latest social media apps, which can be very useful for expanding your online investigations and finding those lesser-known platforms that might be hiding useful evidence.
What is it for? A collection of OSINT tools, training materials, and research techniques.
Covering everything from social media investigations to cybersecurity and deep web searches, it’s an excellent reference for professionals looking to enhance their investigative skills with advanced digital investigation tools.
What is it for? A compilation of SOCMINT tools for social media forensics.
It includes links to search engines, monitoring platforms, and automated tools that streamline the process of identifying, tracking, and analyzing social media activity. Investigators can use it to cross-check data and validate findings across multiple platforms.
What is it for? A curated list of internet investigation websites and guides.
OSINT Team offers guides for professionals in law enforcement, fraud detection, and corporate investigations. Their collection includes tools for tracking social media accounts, retrieving deleted content, and verifying identities—making it a valuable asset for social media investigations.
Pagefreezer provides specialized content for professionals conducting social media forensics and online investigations. Some of our most valuable guides include:
When conducting social media investigations, using the right social media investigation tools is only part of the equation. To ensure that your findings are reliable, defensible, and legally admissible, keep these three critical principles in mind:
Social media content is highly volatile. Posts, comments, and profiles can be edited, deleted, or made private at any time, making it essential to act fast. Social media investigators should use digital investigation tools to capture evidence immediately. Automated tools like WebPreserver can expand hidden comments, capture long timelines, and save posts before they disappear, ensuring no crucial data is lost.
A screenshot alone is not enough for a thorough social media forensics investigation. Capturing all contextual information—such as timestamps, engagement metrics, and post metadata—is key to understanding how the content appeared at the time of collection. Tools like WebPreserver ensure that you can collect social media investigation data in its native format, including comments, reactions, shares, and associated media, so it can be analyzed accurately.
For evidence to hold up in court or legal proceedings, it must be authenticated and tamper-proof. Using private investigator tools that provide digital signatures and hash values ensures that the collected data maintains its chain of custody. WebPreserver and similar SOCMINT tools help you preserve content in a legally defensible format, protecting against challenges to its authenticity.
By leveraging the right social media forensics tools, you can streamline digital investigations, preserve critical evidence, and ensure findings hold up in court. The right tools don’t just speed up the process—they make investigations more accurate, defensible, and legally sound.
Looking for more tips and advice related to online evidence collection? Have a look at our Essential Online Investigation Guide for Websites, Social Media, and Team Collaboration Tools below.