15 Manus AI Prompts for Social Media Research in October 2026

Manus works best here as a research desk. Give it a narrow audience, a date range, source rules, and a final format you can use immediately.

For large comparisons, Manus documents Wide Research as a way to split complex work into parallel research tasks. The prompts below keep the work focused on decisions a creator can make this week.

Replace every bracket before you run one.

Trend prompts

1. Find rising questions

Research questions that [AUDIENCE] are asking about [TOPIC] across TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, and Google during the last 30 days.

Return 20 questions ranked by:
1. recent momentum
2. strength of audience pain
3. how clearly a creator can answer it in a carousel

For every question include source links, dates, and one short reason it matters now.

2. Separate a trend from recycled noise

Investigate this trend: [TREND]

Build a timeline of the earliest useful examples, the last 30 days of activity, and the creators currently pushing it forward. Mark repeated claims that trace back to the same source.

Finish with: rising, stable, or fading.

3. Find the useful niche version

Take this broad trend: [TREND]
My niche: [NICHE]
My audience: [AUDIENCE]

Find 12 concrete ways the trend connects to a real task, fear, decision, or goal in my niche. Include one source example for each connection.

You can compare the shortlist with Instagram trends this week or TikTok trends this week.

Competitor and creator prompts

4. Study the best hooks in one niche

Find 50 high-performing carousel or photo-post openings from creators in [NICHE] published during [DATE RANGE].

Capture the exact opening, creator, URL, date, visible engagement, topic, and hook pattern. Group similar patterns together. Show three examples per pattern.

5. Find repeated content gaps

Review recent content from these accounts: [LINKS]

List the subjects they repeat. Then find questions in comments, forums, and search results that their content leaves unanswered.

Return the 15 clearest gaps with source links and a suggested carousel title.

6. Build a format map

Research the last 60 days of carousel posts in [NICHE].

Classify the strongest examples by format:
- checklist
- case study
- personal story
- teardown
- template
- before and after
- data or proof

For each format show the common slide count, opening style, proof used, and closing CTA.

Proof prompts

7. Fact-check a draft

Fact-check every external claim in this carousel draft: [PASTE]

Use primary sources where available. Return a table with claim, verdict, source, publication date, and a safer replacement sentence. Flag any number with an unclear origin.

8. Find examples the audience knows

Topic: [TOPIC]
Audience: [AUDIENCE]

Find 12 current examples from products, creators, companies, or cultural moments this audience is likely to recognize. Explain the connection in one sentence and link the source.

9. Build a tiny case study

Research this result or story: [SUBJECT]

Create a source-backed case study with:
- starting situation
- change made
- measurable result
- timeline
- limitation
- lesson a creator can use

Keep every claim traceable to a link.

Audience prompts

10. Collect the audience's exact words

Research how [AUDIENCE] describes [PROBLEM] in public comments, forums, reviews, and search questions during the last 90 days.

Return 30 short phrases with source links. Group them by pain, desire, objection, and failed attempt. Preserve the original wording.

11. Map beginner to expert questions

Build a question ladder for [TOPIC].

Level 1: first-week beginner
Level 2: active learner
Level 3: working practitioner
Level 4: advanced operator

Give 10 real searched or discussed questions per level with dates and source links.

12. Find objections before writing

Offer or idea: [OFFER]
Audience: [AUDIENCE]

Research the objections people express in reviews, comments, and discussions. Rank them by frequency and emotional weight. Include the exact language and source.

Carousel-ready prompts

13. Turn research into three story paths

Use this research report: [PASTE OR LINK]

Build three carousel briefs:
1. emotion to personal story
2. curiosity to lesson
3. problem to proof

Each brief needs two hooks, six body-slide points, the proof source for each claim, and a reward CTA.

14. Create a source pack for ViralityWand

Topic: [TOPIC]
Audience: [AUDIENCE]
Goal: [GOAL]

Return a clean source pack with:
- one-sentence angle
- five verified facts
- three examples
- five audience phrases
- three hook directions
- source links and dates

Keep the output under 900 words so I can paste it into a carousel generator.

15. Build next week's research queue

Based on the findings in this project, choose five topics worth researching next week.

For each topic give:
- the signal that triggered it
- the unanswered question
- the sources to inspect first
- the carousel format that fits
- a clear stop condition for the research

The handoff that saves time

End every Manus task with a compact brief:

Audience:
Problem:
Fresh angle:
Strongest fact:
Best example:
Exact audience phrase:
Source links:
Suggested hook:

Paste that brief into the carousel maker. Use the caption generator for platform versions and the hashtag generator for a small set of precise tags.

Research until the angle becomes clear. Then write.

Add a verification rule to every research task

Report only pages you could actually access.
For each finding, include URL, publication date, and access date.
Separate observed evidence from your inference.
Do not infer saves, reach, or conversion rates from visible likes.
If a source is missing or blocked, say so and omit the claim.

When a prompt asks for “high-performing” examples, define the metric and comparison group first. Public engagement counts show only part of performance. Treat a trend verdict as a hypothesis when the date coverage is incomplete, and open the strongest sources before turning the report into a post.