Episode #25
Ep. 25: Kayte Hamilton, The Social Question
Unpacking how The Social Question captures authentic feedback from engaged consumers where they already gather. TSQ partners with influencers to “moderate” their communities in-platform, introducing research questions into existing conversations. The result is rich, conversational feedback from consumers talking about categories they already care about. In this episode Seb sits down with Kayte Hamilton, founder of The Social Question, to explore a form of social media research that sits somewhere between traditional qualitative research, social listening, and influencer engagement. They discuss: How The Social Question partners directly with influencers and creators to field research questions through Instagram Stories. Why existing audience relationships can produce more conversational, story-rich responses than traditional open ends. How influencers can function as natural qualitative moderators when two-way conversation is already part of their relationship with followers. Why keeping participants in-platform can reduce friction compared with sending them into a separate survey or research environment. Where social media research fits alongside traditional qual, quant, and social listening—and where its methodological limitations remain. What Kayte’s experience with progressive hearing loss taught her about accessibility, text-based research, and finding new ways to connect with participants. Key moments 06:16 — How influencer-led research works in practice A walkthrough of using Instagram Stories, polls, and question prompts to collect research responses from existing communities. 10:18 — Why staying in-platform matters Kayte explains the difference between asking someone to leave social media for a survey and engaging them directly where they already spend their time. 12:03 — The limitations of the method No screener, limited demographic precision, and a much more “big picture” approach to insight than conventional sample design. 14:45 — Influencers as moderators Kayte describes how she evaluates creators based on their ability to sustain genuine two-way conversation—not simply follower count. 17:57 — Why market research needs new data streams A broader discussion about the industry’s tendency to stay within familiar research environments and the case for combining traditional and emerging forms of data. About Kayte Hamilton Kayte Hamilton is the founder of The Social Question, a social media research agency that helps insights teams connect directly with social media users through influencer collaborations. Her background spans qualitative moderation, quantitative research, sales, and app development before she built a research model around creator communities and in-platform engagement. Links The Social Question Kayte Hamilton on LinkedIn The Social Question on Instagram Insightful Connections Podcast About Insightful Connections Insightful Connections explores the people, practices, and ideas shaping qualitative research. QualRecruit helps research teams recruit high-quality participants for qualitative studies across the U.S. and international markets.
