Dev Log: Collecting User Data from Social Media for Free

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Needed a way to gather user feedback without building anything or paying for tools. Didn’t want to set up forms or analytics for something small. Tried using social media instead.

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Posted a poll on Instagram Stories with two options related to a new feature idea. Got a few dozen replies in 24 hours. Took screenshots and logged the results manually.

Then dropped a post on Twitter asking, “What’s the one thing missing from [project]?” Got replies I didn’t expect—one of them mentioned a pain point I hadn't considered. Saved those replies in a Notion page for reference.

Checked Instagram DMs. Some users had already shared feedback there in the past. Went through them and tagged each message by category (feature request, bug, random). Used Instagram’s label system to keep it simple.

Added UTM tags to links in bio and swipe-up stories:

?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=featuretest

Opened Google Analytics the next day—tracked a small spike. Not huge, but enough to confirm the link was getting clicks.

Did the same on Twitter with Bitly links. Got click data without needing GA.

Didn’t use any code or tools besides the platforms themselves. Just posted, asked, and watched the replies. Easy way to collect real user input without building anything.