What Is Social Analyzer?
Social Analyzer is a tool for analyzing and finding a person’s profile across more than 1000 social media sites and websites. Provided with the minimum of information, such as a username, you can check on which sites an individual has an account or profile. Social Analyzer can be installed as either a Python app which runs in the terminal or as a web app which can be accessed through your browser.
With Social Analyzer, you can find a profile using multiple techniques and easily filter your results.
How to Install Social Analyzer
Social Analyzer will run on Windows, macOS, and Linux, including on a Raspberry Pi, although you’ll get the best results running Social Analyzer as a web app using Docker and docker-compose.
The easiest way to install it on all three platforms is as a Python package, so make sure you have Python PIP installed before you start, then:
On Windows
Download and extract https://github.com/qeeqbox/social-analyzer/archive/main.zip. Then run this command:
On macOS and Linux
First, type:
You can then run Social Analyzer with the command:
As Social Analyzer interacts with thousands of sites and services, the search can take several minutes to complete. When it finishes, Social Analyzer will show you a text summary of its findings, including the type of site; the real name associated with the account, if available; the site language; and an estimate of the user location.
When a profile is detected, you will see be a “Rate” field of between 0 and 100 or status. The higher the value, the more likely it is that the profile is legitimate.
Install and Use Social Analyzer With Docker
Social Analyzer really comes into its own when used as a web app with docker. To use it this way, you will need either a Linux system or Windows Subsystem for Linux.
First install docker on your system, and then install docker-compose.
Clone the Social Analyzer Github repository, and move into it:
…and bring up the container with:
The process will take a few minutes the first time it runs. When it’s finished, you can access Social Analyzer as a web page in your favorite browser at http://localhost:9005/app.html.
Click on the cog in the top right of the screen to set some options. You can choose which websites to scrape and ignore, set a proxy, and even set a user agent string, so that the websites you’re scraping think you’re using a particular browser.
Back at the main interface, type the username you want to find into the username box, then choose some options from the dropdown. If you’re looking for the profile of someone you know, you may find it useful to have Social Analyzer fetch and show screenshots of profiles—although this will slow down the search.
Other useful options in the list include a visualized map based on extracted metadata, splitting individual words, and finding ages in names or words. There’s no shortage of choices, but if you prefer to have Social Analyzer make them for you, click on the Fast Options button.
When you’re ready, click Analyze, and let Social Analyzer get to work.
Eventually, Social Analyzer will present you with a list of usernames, URLs, how confident it is of the match, and all the details you’d get if you ran it from the command line. If you selected profile screenshots, you’ll see those too. Links are clickable, so you can go straight through to the profile.
What Can You Use Social Analyzer For?
According to its developer, the “project is currently used by some law enforcement agencies in countries where resources are limited,” but unless you’re a bounty hunter, that probably isn’t much use to you.
Where Social Analyzer can really come in handy to the average user is in tracking down old and abandoned accounts. Most internet users create dozens over the years, and in most cases use the same handful of usernames. Abandoned accounts can be exploited for phishing attacks, especially if they were created in the days when password requirements were less stringent. You can use Social Analyzer to track down these relics of the past and delete them.
And if anyone is squatting your handle on a platform you don’t yet use, it’s good to take proactive steps to ensure that they aren’t imitating you online.
Obviously, there is potential for misusing Social Analyzer. Please don’t.
Social Analyzer Helps You Find Your Friends Online
Social media moves fast, and what was once a hot new platform is now old, tired, and being abandoned for the next big thing. Social Analyzer helps you find your online friends if they’ve abandoned the current sinking ship, and makes sure you don’t lose them as they scramble onto the lifeboat of what’s new. There are a lot of social networks out there so make sure you get to know all of them.
