Finding Social Media Accounts: A Quick How-To Guide

Picture this: You’re on a sales team, coffee in hand, staring at a spreadsheet of potential leads. You’ve got names, maybe an email or two, but what you really want is to connect—on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, wherever your prospects are hanging out. Or maybe you’re in marketing, trying to size up the competition, and you need to track down every social channel your rivals use. In today’s business world, finding social media accounts isn’t just a neat trick—it’s a must-have skill for lead generation, outreach, and market research.

And I get it. As someone who’s spent years building SaaS and automation tools (and now co-founding ), I’ve seen firsthand how much time teams waste hunting down social profiles the old-fashioned way. The good news? There are smarter, faster ways to do it—many of them free, and some that are just a couple of clicks away. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the most practical methods for finding social media accounts, from Google tricks to automation with Thunderbit. Let’s make social media search a breeze.

Why Finding Social Media Accounts Matters for Business

Social media isn’t just for memes and cat videos anymore (though, let’s be honest, I still appreciate a good cat meme). For businesses, social media is where deals are made, reputations are built, and opportunities are discovered. Whether you’re in sales, marketing, or operations, being able to quickly find and verify social media accounts can give you a real edge.

Let’s break down how different business functions benefit from social media search:

According to , 56% of businesses say that sourcing contact details—including social media accounts—is a top challenge in lead generation. And with using email prospecting, having the right social handles can make or break your outreach.

Social mention tools and social media finder apps are now baked into many business workflows, helping teams track brand reputation, spot trends, and connect with the right people faster than ever.

The Basics: What Is Social Media Search?

Let’s keep it simple: Social media search is the process of finding someone’s (or a company’s) social media accounts using whatever info you have—name, email, phone number, or even a website.

There are a few flavors of social media search:

• By Name or Username: The classic approach. Type a name or handle into a platform’s search bar and see what pops up.
• By Email: Many platforms let you search for users by email, and there’s a whole cottage industry of tools that help you “search social media accounts by email free.”
• By Phone Number: Some platforms (like WhatsApp or Facebook) allow you to find users by phone, if privacy settings allow.

Social media finder tools are apps or services that automate this process, searching multiple platforms at once or using advanced lookup methods. And “social mention” refers to tracking mentions of a brand, person, or keyword across social channels—super useful for reputation management.

Three Approaches to Finding Social Media Accounts

Over the years, I’ve seen three main ways people track down social media profiles:

1. Google Search: Old-school, but surprisingly effective with the right tricks.
2. People Finder Tools: Purpose-built apps that search social networks by name, email, or phone.
3. Website/Sitemap Analysis: Digging through company websites or sitemaps to uncover official social links.

Each approach has its strengths. Let’s dig into how—and when—to use each one.

Using Google for Social Media Search

I’ll admit, Google is still my go-to for quick-and-dirty social media sleuthing. Here’s how to level up your search game:

Step-by-Step: Google Social Media Search

1. Use Advanced Search Operators
   • To find a LinkedIn profile for Jane Doe, try:

     1"Jane Doe" site:linkedin.com/in

   • For Instagram or X (Twitter):

     1"Jane Doe" site:instagram.com
     2"Jane Doe" site:x.com

2. Search by Email or Username
   • If you have an email, plug it into Google with quotes:

     1"janedoe@email.com"

   • Or try the username:

     1"janedoe123" site:facebook.com

3. Combine Keywords
   • Add company names, locations, or job titles to narrow results:

     1"Jane Doe" "Acme Corp" site:linkedin.com

4. Filter by Date or Region
   • Use Google’s search tools to filter by recent posts or specific regions.

Pro Tip: Google can even help you find social media accounts tied to an email address, as explained in this .

When is Google best? When you have partial info (a name, company, or email) and want to cast a wide net across multiple platforms.

People Finder Tools: Social Media Finder Solutions

Sometimes you need more horsepower than Google can provide. That’s where people finder tools come in. These apps specialize in searching social media accounts by name, email, or phone—often across dozens of platforms.

Popular Social Media Finder Tools

Here’s a quick comparison of some popular options:

• BeenVerified and Hunter.io are especially handy for “search social media accounts by email free” queries ().
• Sherlock is a fun open-source tool for tracking usernames across platforms ().

Heads up: Free versions often have limits, but they’re great for quick checks.

How These Tools Work

• Enter an email, phone, or username.
• The tool scans supported platforms and returns matches.
• Some provide profile pictures, bios, and even recent posts.

When are people finder tools best? When you need to search at scale, or when you want to verify info across multiple platforms quickly.

Website and Sitemap Analysis for Social Media Links

Here’s a trick I love: If you’re researching a company or influencer, always check their website. Most businesses proudly display their social media links—sometimes tucked away in the footer, sometimes on a dedicated “Contact” or “About Us” page.

Step-by-Step: Manual Website/Sitemap Search

1. Visit the Homepage
   • Scroll to the header or footer for social icons (LinkedIn, Instagram, X, Facebook, etc.).
2. Check the About/Contact Page
   • Many companies list all their official channels here.
3. Use Browser Search
   • Press Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) and search for “facebook”, “linkedin”, “instagram”, etc.
4. Explore the Sitemap
   • If the site is large, look for /sitemap.xml or a “Sitemap” link. This can reveal hidden profile pages or team directories.
5. Look for Embedded Widgets
   • Some sites embed social feeds or “Follow” buttons—these often link to the real accounts.

For a deeper dive, the has a great guide on integrating and finding social media accounts on websites.

When is this best? When you want to verify official accounts, or when you’re prospecting for all contact info a company shares publicly.

Automating Social Media Account Discovery with Thunderbit

Okay, here’s where things get fun (and a little meta, since I helped build this). Manual searching is fine for one or two prospects, but what if you need to find social media accounts for dozens—or hundreds—of companies or leads? That’s where comes in.

Thunderbit is an AI Web Scraper Chrome Extension that can automatically scan any website, identify social media links, and export them to Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable, or Notion. It’s built for business users who want to save time and avoid repetitive copy-pasting.

How Thunderbit Makes Social Media Search Easy

• AI-Powered Detection: Thunderbit’s AI reads the page, spots social media links (even if they’re buried in a sitemap or directory), and organizes them into a table.
• Subpage Scraping: Need more than just the homepage? Thunderbit can visit every team member or product page and pull social links from each one.
• Export Anywhere: One click, and your data’s in Excel, Google Sheets, or your favorite tool.
• No Coding Required: Seriously, if you can click a button, you can use Thunderbit.

Want to see how it works? Check out our for a step-by-step walkthrough.

Step-by-Step: Using Thunderbit for Social Media Search

Let’s walk through a real example. Suppose you want to find all the social media accounts listed on a company’s website.

1. Install Thunderbit

• Download the .
• Pin it to your browser for easy access.

2. Open the Target Website

• Navigate to the company’s homepage or directory page.

3. Launch Thunderbit

• Click the Thunderbit icon in your browser.
• Choose “AI Suggest Fields”—Thunderbit will scan the page and suggest columns for social media links (like “LinkedIn”, “Instagram”, “X”, etc.).

4. Review and Adjust Fields

• You can rename columns or add custom instructions if you want Thunderbit to look for specific platforms.

5. Start Scraping

• Click “Scrape.” Thunderbit will extract all the social media links it finds on the page.
• For directories or team pages, use the “Scrape Subpages” feature to visit each profile and gather more links.

6. Export Your Data

• Once scraping is done, export your results to Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable, or Notion—whatever fits your workflow.

7. (Optional) Schedule Regular Checks

• Use Thunderbit’s scheduled scraping to keep your social media account lists up to date—perfect for ongoing competitor or lead monitoring.

For more details, our covers everything from setup to export.

Tips for Effective Social Media Account Searches

Finding social media accounts is part art, part science. Here are some tips I’ve picked up along the way:

• Verify Authenticity: Double-check that the account is official—look for verified badges, matching bios, or links from the company’s website ().
• Use Multiple Methods: Don’t rely on just one approach. Combine Google, people finder tools, and website analysis for the best results.
• Respect Privacy: Only use publicly available information, and avoid scraping personal data unless you have permission ().
• Check Platform Policies: Each social network has its own rules about data use—make sure you’re in the clear.
• Keep Records: Track where you found each account, so you can update or verify info later.
• Automate When Possible: For large-scale searches, tools like Thunderbit can save hours (and your sanity).

Staying Ethical and Respectful in Social Media Searches

Let’s be real—just because you can find someone’s social media doesn’t mean you should use it for any purpose. Here’s my quick code of conduct:

• Stick to Public Info: Only collect and use information that’s shared publicly.
• Respect Opt-Outs: If someone asks to be removed from your list, honor it.
• Comply with Platform Rules: Don’t use automation or scraping in ways that violate terms of service.
• Don’t Spam: Use social media accounts for genuine outreach, not mass unsolicited messages.
• Stay Transparent: If you’re reaching out, be upfront about how you found the contact.

For more on ethical searching, covers the dos and don’ts in detail.

Wrapping Up: Key Takeaways for Social Media Search Success

Finding social media accounts is a core skill for modern business—whether you’re chasing leads, sizing up competitors, or keeping tabs on your brand. Here’s what I hope you’ll remember:

• Three main approaches: Google search, people finder tools, and website/sitemap analysis.
• Automation is your friend: Tools like make large-scale social media discovery fast and organized.
• Combine methods: The best results come from mixing manual research with smart automation.
• Stay ethical: Respect privacy, follow platform rules, and use your powers for good.

Ready to take your social media search to the next level? Give Thunderbit a try, or check out our for more tips and tutorials. And hey, if you find a new cat meme along the way, send it my way—I’m always up for a laugh.

Shuai Guan, Co-founder & CEO at Thunderbit

Further Reading:

Happy searching!

FAQs

1. Why is finding social media accounts important for businesses?

Finding social media accounts is crucial for businesses because it supports lead generation, competitor analysis, direct outreach, reputation monitoring, and fraud prevention. Sales teams use social profiles for prospect research and outreach, marketing teams track competitors and influencers, and operations teams verify official accounts to avoid impersonators.

2. What are the main methods for finding social media accounts?

There are three primary approaches:

• Google Search: Using advanced search operators to find profiles by name, email, or username.
• People Finder Tools: Specialized apps that search multiple platforms using names, emails, or phone numbers.
• Website/Sitemap Analysis: Checking company websites and sitemaps for official social media links.

3. How can I use Google to find someone’s social media profiles?

You can use Google’s advanced search operators to locate social media profiles. For example, searching "Jane Doe" site:linkedin.com/in finds LinkedIn profiles, while "janedoe@email.com" can uncover accounts linked to an email. Combining names with company names or job titles can further narrow down results.

4. What are some popular tools for automating social media account discovery?

Popular tools include BeenVerified, Hunter.io, Pipl, and Sherlock. These tools allow you to search by email, username, or phone number across multiple platforms. Automation tools like Thunderbit can scan websites, identify social media links, and export the data to spreadsheets for large-scale prospecting.

5. What ethical considerations should I keep in mind when searching for social media accounts?

Always use publicly available information, respect individuals’ privacy, comply with platform policies, and avoid spamming or misusing collected data. If someone requests removal from your list, honor their request, and be transparent about how you found their contact information.