How to use Twitter's Advanced Search Feature
Most people that use Twitter have searched for something at one point or another. It’s easy, right? All you need to do is enter your search criteria in the search window that reads, “Search Twitter” and press the search icon.
However, many people may not realize just how powerful the search tool can be within Twitter. I first learned about it by searching for “twitter search” in a traditional search engine. I can’t remember which one I used at the time. I expected to find a web page or maybe a YouTube video that showed me something. Instead, I found that Twitter itself has an advanced search feature built into the site. Here’s the link to it: https://twitter.com/search-advanced.
It lets you enter specific search criteria based on keywords, who it came from, when it was posted; even where it was posted from. When you enter all of your criteria and click on the search icon, it converts all of your choices into a long line of text and enters it into the search window automatically.
Here are a few examples of how it works:
If you want to find any tweets made between January 1st to March 9th of this year that mentioned Walt Disney World in a favorable way, this is what the advanced search tool converts your selections to: "walt disney world" since:2015-01-01 until:2015-03-09 :)
Want to find any tweets made that involve my Twitter account in a negative way? It would look like this: @josephmyeager :(
How about tweets made regarding Philadelphia written in Spanish? That would look like this: Philadelphia lang:es
Once you’ve used it a few times, it might help to copy/paste the search criteria into a word processor so that you can adjust it as necessary and then copy/paste it back into the Twitter search window. It’s much faster than using the Twitter interface if you’re just making minor changes to a previous search.
About the Author
Joe Yeager is the founder of Safety Net of PA, LLC and has been a cyber safety advocate for several years. He is an adjunct professor at Philadelphia University, where has been teaching several classes that involve using technology to improve the quality of their schoolwork.
As the founder of Safety Net, Joe provides a variety of presentations on improving the online experience, both in better educational performance and in cyber safety. It was after his own daughter came across inappropriate content online that got him involved in helping others in the area.
His work on cyber safety has been published by the Family Online Safety Institute, the Social Media Club, Calkins Media and more. He is also the author of #DigitalParenting- A Parent's Guide to Social Media, Cyberbullying &Online Activity, which was chosen as an Editor’s Pick in April 2016.
