Pressfront
Guide · when people come at you
To find who started a pile-on, find the earliest post, then the bigger account that pointed the crowd at you.
It's usually not the first person who was mean. It's the one with a big audience who quoted or linked you right before it blew up.
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Find what they're reacting to
- Usually one post of yours. Check which of your posts suddenly has hundreds of replies or quotes.
- Sometimes a screenshot. If people are reacting to something you can't find, someone may be passing around a screenshot or a clip.
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Go back to the earliest post you can find
- On X: search
@yourname since:2026-10-01 until:2026-10-05, pick Latest, and move the dates back until it goes quiet.
- On Bluesky: search
mentions:yourname since:2026-10-01 the same way.
- Call it "the earliest post I could find", not "the first". Deleted posts and private accounts don't show up.
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Find the hour it jumped, and who posted just before
- Look for the jump: 3 replies an hour, then 60.
- Just before the jump, there is usually one bigger account that quoted you, linked you, or posted a screenshot.
- That account pointed the crowd at you. Most of the people replying arrived through them.
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Check whether it started on another site
- If the first posts link somewhere, follow the link. Reddit threads, forums and group chats often come first.
- Search your handle on Google in quotes:
"yourname" site:reddit.com.
- Private group chats and Discords you can't see. Nobody can, unless someone shares a screenshot.
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Save it before it's deleted
- Screenshot each important post with the link, date and time showing. Copy the link too.
- Note the account's handle. People change display names, handles change less often.
- You'll want this if you report the accounts or talk to a lawyer.
Since June 2024
X hides who liked a post from everyone except the person who liked it. So nobody can show you the likers on X, by hand or with a tool. Bluesky likes are still public.
What nobody can see
- Private accounts and locked posts.
- Discords, group chats, DMs. Only if a screenshot leaks out.
- Deleted posts, unless someone saved a copy.
- Why they did it. You can show who posted what and when. Not what they were thinking, or whether anyone paid them.
Doing it with a tool
- By hand works, but it can take an evening for a big pile-on.
- Pressfront Trace does steps 2 to 4 for you. Paste your @username and it shows the earliest post it could find, the accounts carrying it, and whether it came from another site.
- Every answer links to the real post. Public posts only. It never tells you who someone is in real life.
- Free: one trace a day, looking back 7 days. $49 for one trace that goes all the way back.
Trace it freePaste your @username. Most traces take a few minutes. No account, no card.
Next: how to tell if it's coordinated · if they're posting your private info
Sources
- X advanced search: help.x.com (or the form at x.com/search-advanced)
- Bluesky search operators: bsky.social