mCommunity playbook
Setting Up Your Account for Social Listening
Connect your social networks, tell Meltwater what to collect, then confirm the content is coming through.
Social listening starts with making sure Meltwater can access the social content you want to track.
For some social networks, that means connecting an account first. Then you tell Meltwater which pages, profiles, hashtags, competitors or keywords you want to monitor. Finally, you create an Explore search to find and analyze the conversations that matter to you.
This playbook walks you through the complete setup.
The four steps
Setting up social listening comes down to four things:
1CONNECT
Give Meltwater permission to collect public content from the social networks that require authentication.
2COLLECT
Tell Meltwater which pages, profiles, hashtags, competitors and YouTube keywords you want collected.
3SEARCH
Create or update your Explore search with the brands, topics and conversations you want to find.
4CHECK
Make sure your connections are active and the content you expect is appearing.
Once these four steps are complete, your social data can be used across Explore, Analyze, Monitor, Reports and Alerts.
Step 1 of 4 · Connect
Connect the social networks you want to monitor
Go to:
Account → Social Connections → Monitored Connections
A social connection gives Meltwater permission to collect public data made available by that social network.
You do not need to connect every source available in Meltwater.
🎥 Watch · about 2 min
How to connect your social accounts for Social Listening
Which sources need a connection?
| Source | Do I need to connect it for listening? |
|---|---|
| Yes | |
| Yes | |
| TikTok | Yes |
| Threads | Yes |
| YouTube | You can configure keyword monitoring without owning a YouTube channel |
| X | Generally no for Explore listening. Connect when required for benchmarking with Engage or Owned Analytics |
| News, Blogs and Forums | No |
| No | |
| LinkedIn listening content | No |
| Snapchat | No |
| Twitch, Pinterest and Bluesky | No |
Availability still depends on your Meltwater subscription.
Monitored, Owned or Paid: which tab should I use?
Social Connections may include three tabs.
Monitored is for social listening. You are collecting public posts and conversations for research and analysis.
Owned is for accounts your organization manages. Connect these when you want to publish, reply to conversations or analyze the performance of your own social accounts.
Paid is for measuring paid social activity.
If your goal is social listening, start with Monitored Connections.
If you only see the Monitored tab, that is expected if your subscription does not include Engage or Owned Analytics.
Social Connections has up to three tabs. Monitored Connections is the one you need for social listening.
🎥 Watch
How to connect your owned social accounts (Owned Connections)
Connect Facebook and Instagram
We recommend starting with Facebook and Instagram because they may require someone within your organization to grant the appropriate permissions before you can complete the connection.
Under Facebook, select Add Account.
When possible, use Meta Business Login rather than Legacy Login.
Meta Business Login is connected to your organization's Meta Business account, supports multiple Pages under one sign-in and does not require you to reconnect every 60 days.
Legacy Login is tied to an individual's Facebook account and expires every 60 days.
Can't find your Facebook Page?
The person authenticating the connection needs Full Control of the Page within your Meta Business Portfolio.
If the Page does not appear during setup, check those permissions first.
Preparing to Connect Facebook and Instagram with Meta Business Login
The Instagram account must be a Business or Creator profile linked to a Facebook Page.
Personal Instagram accounts cannot be connected.
Private accounts and Instagram Stories are not available for social listening.
💡 Add the Instagram account to your Meta Business Portfolio too
Linking Instagram to a Facebook Page is the minimum requirement. We recommend going further and adding the Instagram account to your organization's Meta Business Portfolio, the same place the Facebook Page lives.
Instagram authenticates through its linked Page, so an Instagram account managed outside the Portfolio still depends on one person's individual access. Bringing both into the Portfolio ties the connection to your organization instead, which is what keeps it working through password changes and staff turnover.
Connect TikTok
Under TikTok, select Add Account and complete the authentication process.
Once connected, Meltwater can collect supported TikTok content, including post text, author names, posts that @ mention your business handle and comments on monitored posts.
TikTok restricts access for some regulated industries, including alcohol, gambling and tobacco.
Connect Threads
Under Threads, select Add Account and follow the authentication steps.
Step 2 of 4 · Collect
Tell Meltwater what you want to monitor
Connecting an account gives Meltwater access to the network. The next step is telling Meltwater what you want collected.
Depending on the social network, this could include:
- Pages or profiles
- Competitors
- Instagram hashtags
- YouTube keyword searches
This is an important distinction:
Connecting a social network does not mean you are automatically monitoring every page, profile or topic on that network.
You still need to configure what you want Meltwater to collect.
🎥 Watch
How to configure Monitored Connections for Social Listening
Add Facebook Pages and Instagram profiles
For the appropriate channel:
- Select the + under Monitored Pages.
- Search for the Page or profile by name, or choose Add by URL in the top right.
- You can paste up to 30 URLs at once.
- For Instagram, enter handles without the @.
- If you pasted URLs, select Add. Then select Save.
Searching by brand or company name. Tick the Page you want, then save. Check the result carefully, since similar names and unofficial Pages often appear alongside the one you want.
Adding by URL. Choose Add by URL in the top right, paste the Page URLs, then select Add. Separate multiple URLs with a line break.
Add the accounts that matter to your listening strategy. For example, you might monitor:
Your organization
- Main brand accounts
- Product or sub-brand accounts
- Regional accounts
Your market
- Competitors
- Industry organizations
- Relevant public accounts
You do not need to add every social account you can find. Focus on the accounts that support the questions you want to answer.
Monitored Page or Competitor?
This is one of the most important choices to understand.
Both options collect content for listening.
You do not need to add the same Page as both a Monitored Page and a Competitor.
Use Monitored Pages when:
You primarily want to collect and analyze the Page's content in Explore.
Use Competitors when:
You have access to benchmarking and want to compare that account against your own social performance in Measure.
For Facebook, there is another difference. Engagement metrics for a Monitored Page continue to refresh for 7 days after a post is published. For a Page marked as a Competitor, they refresh for 30 days.
Instagram works differently. Engagement is captured when the post is collected and is not refreshed afterward, regardless of whether the profile is monitored or marked as a competitor.
Planning to benchmark competitors?
Connect your own Facebook Page under Owned Connections first. Competitor benchmarking compares competitor performance against your Owned account.
Avoid duplicates: If a competitor is already configured as a Competitor, you do not also need to use a Monitored Page slot for that Page.
Add Instagram hashtags
Instagram hashtag monitoring helps you capture conversations that may not mention a specific account.
This is useful for:
- Campaign hashtags
- Brand hashtags
- Ambassador or influencer hashtags
- Events
- Competitor brand terms
- Industry topics
To add them:
- Find Instagram under Monitored Connections.
- Select Manage Hashtags.
- Select Add Hashtags.
- Choose the Instagram account the hashtags should be assigned to, or allow Meltwater to automatically assign them.
- Enter your hashtags, separated by spaces or commas.
- Select Add Hashtags.
The Add Instagram Hashtags dialog. Leave Assign to Instagram Account on Auto-assign unless you need a specific account, then enter your hashtags. The bar underneath shows how many slots you have left.
Important: add campaign hashtags early
When you add an Instagram hashtag, Meltwater collects the previous 24 hours of available posts and then begins collecting forward.
If you are launching a campaign next week, configure the hashtag before the campaign starts, not after.
How many hashtags can I add?
Meta allows up to 30 unique hashtags per connected Instagram business profile within a rolling seven-day period.
If you delete a hashtag, that slot is not immediately available again. The deleted hashtag continues to count toward Meta's rolling seven-day limit until the window expires.
Avoid frequently adding and removing hashtags. Choose the terms that matter most and keep them active.
Add YouTube keyword searches
YouTube monitoring works differently from Facebook and Instagram.
Instead of choosing individual channels to monitor, you can create searches that collect videos when the title or description matches your keywords.
Go to the YouTube section of Monitored Connections:
- Select the + under Searches.
- Enter your keywords.
- Select Add Search.
You do not need to own or authenticate a YouTube channel to monitor YouTube this way.
YouTube search logic
YouTube keyword searches do not use Meltwater Boolean syntax.
| If you want | Enter |
|---|---|
| Either term | boating | sailing |
| Exclude something | boating -fishing |
| Both terms | boating boats |
| Specific phrase or topic | 2026 Toronto Boat Show |
When you add a new YouTube search, Meltwater looks back seven days for matching videos and then continues collecting.
Step 3 of 4 · Search
Build the Explore search that uses your social data
Now that you have connected your networks and told Meltwater what to collect, think about what you actually want to find.
Your Social Connections determine what Meltwater can collect from supported social networks.
Your Explore search determines the conversation you want to analyze.
For example, imagine you are setting up social listening for a brand called Acme.
You might configure:
Social Connections
- Acme's Facebook Page
- Acme's Instagram profile
- Three competitor accounts
#Acme#AcmeSummerCampaign- A YouTube search for Acme
Then your Explore search could contain the broader set of brand terms customers use when talking about Acme, including the company name, product names, common abbreviations or other relevant keywords.
Together, these give you a more complete view of the conversation.
Searching a specific account or hashtag
You do not need operators for your connected content to appear. The pages, profiles, hashtags and keyword searches you configured in step 2 feed into your Explore searches automatically.
Operators are for a different job. Sometimes you do not want keyword matches. You want to see all the content collected from one specific account.
You can use operators in Explore to narrow your results.
Instagram profile
Use: from:"handle"
Example: from:"meltwater"
Instagram hashtag
Use: hashtag:"hashtag"
Example: hashtag:"sociallistening"
Facebook Page
Use the appropriate site: operator with the Facebook Page ID.
Important: Use these operators when you specifically want to isolate content from a particular page, profile or hashtag.
Step 4 of 4 · Check
Make sure everything is working
Your setup is not complete until you confirm that the expected content is coming through.
Use this checklist.
Connections
- ☐ The social networks you need show as connected
- ☐ There are no unexpected renewal or authentication warnings
- ☐ Facebook and Instagram permissions are correctly configured
Collection
- ☐ The Facebook Pages and Instagram profiles you need are added
- ☐ Competitors are configured for benchmarking where needed
- ☐ You have not unnecessarily added the same Page as both Monitored and Competitor
- ☐ Campaign hashtags are configured before campaigns begin
- ☐ YouTube keyword searches reflect the topics you need to monitor
Explore
- ☐ Your Explore search includes the keywords and topics relevant to your listening strategy
- ☐ Searching for a connected Page or profile returns expected content
- ☐ Your source filters include the social networks you want to analyze
Account limits
- ☐ You know where to check your Monitored Connection limits
- ☐ You have available capacity for upcoming campaigns, competitors or new accounts
You can find your current limits in Account → Social Connections → Monitored Connections.
Limits vary by subscription, so use the number displayed in your account rather than assuming every Meltwater account has the same allowance.
Your social listening setup is complete when...
You should be able to answer yes to these four questions:
CONNECT
Have I connected the social networks that require authentication?
COLLECT
Have I told Meltwater which pages, profiles, hashtags, competitors and YouTube keywords matter to me?
SEARCH
Have I built an Explore search around the brands, topics and conversations I want to understand?
CHECK
Have I confirmed that the expected social content is appearing?
If yes, you are ready to use that data across your searches, dashboards, alerts and reports.
Everything past this point is optional
Reference and troubleshooting
Your setup is already done. Come back here when something looks wrong, or when you need the detail behind how collection works.
Historical data and retentionWhy engagement numbers differConnection optionsAllowances and collectionOwned and PaidTroubleshooting
What happens after I connect something?
Historical availability varies by social network.
| What you add | Historical content collected at setup |
|---|---|
| Facebook Page | Up to 450 days |
| Instagram business profile | 30 days |
| Instagram hashtag | 24 hours |
| YouTube keyword search | 7 days |
| TikTok hashtag content | Up to 90 days, although not every post in that period is guaranteed |
| X | Rolling 15 months, with longer history available as an add-on |
Historical availability and retention are not identical across platforms because each social network controls how third-party platforms can access its data.
Competitor pages backfill the same as monitored pages. A Facebook Page marked as a Competitor collects up to 450 days, and an Instagram profile marked as a Competitor collects 30 days, exactly as they would under Monitored Pages.
How long that content stays available
Social content is stored for 24 months. How far back you can search it depends on your package.
| Package | How far back you can search |
|---|---|
| Explore | 15 months |
| Explore+ | 24 months |
So a Facebook Page that backfilled 450 days of posts stays searchable inside your window, and the oldest content ages out as that window rolls forward.
Why don't the engagement numbers match the social network?
Social engagement numbers in Explore are snapshots.
Social networks differ in how long they allow Meltwater to return to a post and update engagement metrics.
For example:
Facebook: Engagement is refreshed after collection and continues updating for 7 days for Monitored Pages or 30 days for Facebook Competitors.
| Facebook Page marked as | Engagement keeps refreshing for |
|---|---|
| Monitored Page | 7 days after the post |
| Competitor | 30 days after the post |
Instagram: Engagement is captured when the post is collected and is not refreshed afterward.
TikTok: Engagement is available for the first 48 hours after a post is indexed and then freezes.
YouTube: Comments are collected once, 24 hours after the video is posted.
That means an older post in Explore may show the engagement it had during its collection window rather than the engagement you see on the social network today.
If you are analyzing the current performance of accounts your organization owns, use Social Analytics rather than Explore.
Connection options in more detail
Meta Business Login compared with Legacy Login
| Meta Business Login | Legacy Login | |
|---|---|---|
| Expires | Never | Every 60 days |
| Tied to | Your Meta Business account | One person's personal Facebook account |
| Multiple Pages | Yes, under one sign-in | One at a time |
| If that person leaves | No disruption | Connection breaks |
Sources that arrive without a connection
Three of these are narrower than people expect, so it is worth knowing what you are getting:
- LinkedIn. There is no LinkedIn listening connection. What appears in Explore is a sampled, anonymized set of LinkedIn content that was reshared onto other social networks, held for a rolling 15 months. LinkedIn company pages you manage are connected under Owned.
- Snapchat. Public posts from opted-in profiles, roughly 30,000 to 40,000 globally, with history from December 1, 2024. Stories are visible for 24 hours on Snapchat but stay searchable in Explore.
- Reddit. The top 130,000 subreddits with a rolling 15 months of history. Reddit comes with social packages and is not included in every subscription.
Working with Global Pages
Localized market Pages under a Global Page structure often share the same display name, which makes them hard to tell apart once they are connected. Rename them for clarity.
Connecting accounts you do not manage yourself
You do not have to be a Meltwater user to authenticate an account. Meltwater can generate a secure, shareable link so a client, or the colleague who is the actual Page admin, can sign in and authorize the account from their own browser without a Meltwater login.
Send them the link, they authenticate, and the connection appears in your account.
💡 The link expires after 24 hours. Coordinate with the person before you send it so they can complete authentication while the link is still active.
Allowances and what to expect from collection
Limits vary by subscription, so the number displayed in your account is the one to trust. A few allowances are consistent and worth knowing as you plan:
| Item | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Facebook Monitored Pages | Shown in your account, at the top of the + panel |
| Instagram Monitored profiles | 50 to start, and more can be purchased |
| Instagram hashtags | 30 per connected business profile, in any rolling seven-day period |
| Competitors, shared across Facebook, Instagram and X | 50 to start, and more can be purchased |
| YouTube keyword searches | 1, 3 or 10, depending on subscription |
There is no cap on how many accounts you can connect, and each connected account brings its own allowance, so connecting another account is the usual way to create more capacity. If you need a higher baseline, your Meltwater account team can arrange it.
Instagram hashtags on high-volume terms
- The hashtag must already exist on Instagram before you can add it.
- A hashtag that is already being tracked does not use an additional slot.
- On a very busy hashtag, engagement updates are guaranteed for the first 100 posts collected in a 24-hour period. Above that volume, engagement may be missing or lower than what appears on Instagram.
YouTube collection
- A video needs to be at least an hour old before it is collected, so new videos appear on the following crawl rather than immediately.
- Comments are collected once, 24 hours after the video is posted, up to 100 comments per video.
- Follower or subscriber reach is not available for YouTube.
What is not available for social listening
Some content cannot be collected by any third-party platform, because the social networks do not make it available. If you are looking for something in this list, the gap is not in your setup:
- Facebook Groups and Facebook Reels
- Replies to comments on monitored Facebook Pages
- Private Instagram accounts and Instagram Stories
- Personal profiles on any social network
- Promoted or boosted posts, in Instagram hashtag and profile collection
Owned and Paid reference
Owned and Paid are for managing and measuring the accounts your organization runs, not for listening. None of this is needed to complete a listening setup. Come here when you are measuring your own performance.
Owned connections also power Owned Social Analytics in Analyze, and they are what competitor benchmarking compares against. Available channels: Facebook Pages, Instagram, X, LinkedIn company pages, YouTube, TikTok, Google Business, Threads and Bluesky.
Set up Owned connections before Paid connections.
Owned data is retained for the life of your contract. Two different things get collected from an Owned account, which is why the numbers look different depending on where you are reading them.
Conversations and comments, used in Engage
| Channel | Collected when you connect | Refreshes |
|---|---|---|
| Your last 100 brand posts with all comments, replies and mentions | 10 minutes to instant | |
| X | 15 months of replies and mentions | Instant |
| Up to 25 comments per post on your last 50 posts, 5 replies per comment | 10 minutes to instant | |
| Up to 50 comments on your last 50 posts, 50 replies per comment | 1 hour to instant | |
| YouTube | Up to 10 videos outside playlists, 100 comments each, up to 5 replies | 6 hours |
| TikTok | Up to 100 comments on your last 100 videos, 100 replies per comment | 10 minutes |
| Google Business | Up to your last 100 reviews, plus your reply if there is one | 60 minutes |
| Threads | Last 300 threads per poll cycle, 50 replies each | 15 minutes |
Performance metrics, used in Social Analytics
| Channel | Metrics history collected when you connect | Metrics refresh |
|---|---|---|
| 400 days of insights and metrics | Every 24 hours | |
| 400 days of insights and metrics, excluding follower counts. Stories from the last 24 hours only | Every 6 hours | |
| 400 days of insights and metrics, excluding follower counts | Every 24 hours | |
| YouTube | 365 days of insights and metrics, and your 500 most recent videos | Every 6 hours |
| TikTok | 60 days for channel and profile metrics, 1 year for videos | Every 12 hours |
| X | From the point of connection forward | Every 24 hours |
Private messages
Private messages follow their own rules. X retains your last 300 direct messages. Instagram retains up to 100 messages per conversation for your last 100 conversations. Facebook private messages begin at the point of connection.
Paid
Paid collects 180 days of Facebook and Instagram ad history when you connect, which can take up to 48 hours to appear, and up to 300 comments per ad across your last 100 ad sets. LinkedIn Paid collects 30 days. X has no Paid connection.
The same channel can mean two different things
YouTube, TikTok and Threads appear under both Monitored and Owned. Monitored means listening to public posts. Owned means an account your organization manages, with publishing and replying. LinkedIn, Google Business and Bluesky are Owned only.
Connecting Your Owned and Paid Accounts
Troubleshooting
I connected Facebook, but I can't find my Page
Confirm that the person authenticating has Full Control of the Page inside the Meta Business Portfolio.
If they do not have Full Control, Meta may not make the Page available to select during authentication.
Preparing to Connect Facebook and Instagram with Meta Business Login
I searched for my brand but don't see Instagram posts
First confirm that Instagram has been authenticated under Monitored Connections.
Then confirm that the relevant Instagram business profile or hashtag has been added for monitoring.
Should I add a competitor under both Monitored Pages and Competitors?
No.
Both collect content for listening. Use Competitor when you need benchmarking. Otherwise, use Monitored Pages.
Adding the same Page in both places uses two available slots without expanding your listening coverage.
I deleted an Instagram hashtag but can't add another
Instagram's 30-hashtag allowance operates within a rolling seven-day window.
Deleting a hashtag does not immediately return the slot. It remains counted until that seven-day window has passed.
Why am I missing Facebook Groups or Reels?
Facebook Groups and Facebook Reels are not available through Meta's API for this type of monitoring.
They cannot currently be collected through Monitored Connections.
Do I need to connect X?
Not simply to find X content in Explore.
Connect X when your Meltwater subscription and workflow require it for capabilities such as benchmarking.
Do I need to own a YouTube channel to monitor YouTube?
No.
YouTube monitoring can use keyword searches against video titles and descriptions without requiring you to own the channels being monitored.
My connection expired. What should I do?
For an expired connection, go to Social Connections and look for the renewal option in the connection's status.
Legacy Facebook connections expire every 60 days. The person who originally connected the account receives reminder emails before expiration.
Meta Business Login does not have the same 60-day expiration requirement, which is one reason it is the recommended Facebook connection method.
The person who originally connected our Facebook account has left
A new authorized user will need to establish the connection.
This is another reason to use Meta Business Login where possible. The connection is tied to your organization's Meta Business Portfolio rather than relying on one person's personal Facebook login.
I've reached my monitoring limit
First, review your existing connections and remove Pages or searches you no longer need.
For supported connection types, connecting another eligible Business account may provide additional monitoring capacity. You can see the limits available to your subscription within Monitored Connections.
If you need additional capacity beyond what your subscription provides, contact your Meltwater account team.
Related resources
Use these resources when you need deeper instructions for a specific part of the setup:
- Preparing to Connect Facebook and Instagram with Meta Business Login
For Meta permissions and troubleshooting when a Page does not appear. - Connecting Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Threads or YouTube in Social Connections
For detailed connection instructions by social network. - Monitoring Facebook Pages, Instagram Handles and Hashtags, X Competitors, YouTube Keywords, TikTok and Threads Accounts
For additional detail on configuring Monitored Connections. - Connecting Your Owned and Paid Accounts
For managing and measuring social accounts your organization owns. - Brand Monitoring Playbook
For building your listening strategy and Explore search once your connections are configured.
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