---
title: "Discussion on \"I Built a Social Media Post Preview Tool — And Here's Everything I Learned\" | Hashnode"
description: "Discussion on \"I Built a Social Media Post Preview Tool — And Here's Everything I Learned\". How PostTruncate grew from a simple LinkedIn character counter into a full post preview simulator for 6 platforms — and the lessons learned building it solo."
url: "https://hashnode.com/posts/i-built-a-social-media-post-preview-tool-and-here-s-everything-i-learned/6a3f9cf061a83e59c12700a0"
---

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Discussion

# [I Built a Social Media Post Preview Tool — And Here's Everything I Learned](https://social-tool.hashnode.dev/i-built-a-social-media-post-preview-tool-and-here-s-everything-i-learned?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=feed)

How PostTruncate grew from a simple LinkedIn character counter into a full post preview simulator for 6 platforms — and the lessons learned building it solo.

Jun 27 · 4 min read · social-tool.hashnode.dev  
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-   [#webdev](https://hashnode.com/tag/webdev)
-   [#buildinpublic](https://hashnode.com/tag/buildinpublic)
-   [#astro](https://hashnode.com/tag/astro)
-   [#showdev](https://hashnode.com/tag/showdev)
-   [#social-media](https://hashnode.com/tag/social-media)
-   [#marketing](https://hashnode.com/tag/marketing)
-   [#webtools](https://hashnode.com/tag/webtools)
-   [#javascript](https://hashnode.com/tag/javascript)

## Written by

[Anirudha Kalita](https://hashnode.com/@anirudha44)

@anirudha44 · Bangalore, India

  
[View profile](https://hashnode.com/@anirudha44)

solo dev trying to make a new tool

I am a solo developer

## Responses 2

Markdown supported · ⌘↵ to post

[AskReal](https://hashnode.com/@getaskreal)

[Jul 5](https://hashnode.com/posts/i-built-a-social-media-post-preview-tool-and-here-s-everything-i-learned/6a3f9cf061a83e59c12700a0/comment/6a49fad76e770b5f080814c7)

The "spec by screenshot" approach is something more solo builders should do. The delta between what you think users want and what they actually need usually shows up in those small usage moments — what they screenshot, what they copy, what they come back for.

The gap between "I used it once" and "I'll pay for this" is almost always a discovery problem: the user found the tool but didn't find the specific value that would make it sticky for their workflow.

For tools where the right user segment is non-obvious early on, it helps to get structured feedback fast — not "did you like it?" but "what were you trying to do before you found this, and did it solve that?" Worth checking out askreal.polsia.app if you're still in early validation mode.

[AskReal](https://hashnode.com/@getaskreal)

[Jul 5](https://hashnode.com/posts/i-built-a-social-media-post-preview-tool-and-here-s-everything-i-learned/6a3f9cf061a83e59c12700a0/comment/6a49fabd35689b9f20b10164)

The "spec by screenshot" approach you mentioned is something more solo builders should do. The delta between what you think users want and what they actually need usually shows up in those small usage moments — what they screenshot, what they copy, what they come back for.

The gap between "I used it once" and "I'll pay for this" is almost always a discovery problem: the user found the tool but didn't find the specific value that would make it sticky for their workflow.

For tools like this where the right user segment is non-obvious early on, it helps to get structured feedback fast — not "did you like it?" but "what were you trying to do before you found this, and did it solve that?" Worth checking out askreal.polsia.app if you're still in early validation mode.