Twitter Advanced Search Operators

Introduction

The Twitter Advanced Search operator is an underutilized but incredibly valuable tool for Twitter users. It allows users to more effectively search and target specific people or posts amidst the multitude of tweets and users on the platform.

Basic Operators

Here are the basic operators and when to use them:

• Using quotes, like “internet marketing,” will search for the exact phrase. Without quotes, the search will look for tweets containing any or both keywords in any order.
• Using OR between keywords, like “internet OR marketing,” will search for tweets containing either keyword.
• Using a dash before a keyword, like “internet marketing -affiliate,” will exclude tweets containing that word from the search results.
• Using a hashtag, like #internetmarketing, will search for tweets and users with that exact phrase.
• To: followed by a username, like “to:influencer,” will search for all tweets sent to that user.
• A keyword followed by “near:” and a location, like “football near:London,” will search for tweets about the keyword posted near the specified location.
• “Near:” followed by a location and “within:” followed by a distance, like “near:Washington within:10mi,” will search for tweets and users within the specified distance of the location.
• Using “positive attitude word” J, like “raining J,” will find tweets with a positive sentiment about that word. The negative counterpart can be searched with “negative attitude word 🙁“.
• Adding a question mark after keywords, like “internet marketing ?,” will search for tweets asking questions about that topic.
• Using “filter:” followed by a keyword, like “internet marketing filter:links,” will search for tweets containing the main keywords and filter the results based on the specified keyword. The available filter options are “links,” “retweets,” “replies,” “images,” and “videos.”
• Using “lang:” followed by a language code, like “internet marketing lang:de,” will search for tweets in the specified language.
• Using “since:” followed by a date, like “survivor since:2019-5-20,” will search for tweets posted after the specified date. “Until:” followed by a date can be used to search for tweets posted before that date.

In addition to these basic operators, advanced operators can be created by combining the basic operators. For example, “from:User AND -filter:replies” will show only tweets from a specific account and exclude retweets.

Operators on their advanced use:

1. from:User AND -filter:replies – this combination can be used when you want to see only tweets of a particular account and you want to avoid getting retweets.
2. Internet marketing lang:en filter:links – this search will give you links for articles about Internet marketing that have been written in English. Also, you can use any language you want, or to do a search for images or videos instead.
3. social media ? -news lang:en – you can use this option to find questions about Internet marketing, not have the word “news” in it and questions that are added in the English language.

Using Twitter advanced search operators in SU SOCIAL

Our subsequent discussion pertains to how to utilize these searches with SU Social‘s tools. We will cover how to precisely follow users as if they were discovered using these options, as well as how to retweet posts identified via these advanced operators.

If you opt to employ the Follow tool, you may include a keyword to guide the users you follow. Additionally, you can integrate a language filter using the language operator to ensure that you only follow individuals that match your targeting criteria.

• You can see that when using ‘keyword’ search, you can add the operator as shown in the image above.
• You may also add and combine several operators which will result in more advanced search and you will be able to achieve and search exactly what you’ve been searching for.
• Note that the more advanced search is, the fewer results you are going to get.
• You can also use advanced operators in the Favorite tool and for the Retweet tool.

When you add keywords and text like in the image below, there will be two operators:

1. marketing -filter:replies lang:en – which will search for tweets (because we have ruled out retweets), written in english for the keyword marketing;

2. from:SUSOCIAL -filter:retweets lang:en – which will bring in only tweets (because we have used filters to rule out retweets) made by the @SUSOCIAL account and that have been written in English

SU Social also allows users to utilize these advanced search operators in its tools, such as the Follow tool. By adding a keyword and language filter, users can easily follow users matching their target criteria.

Conclusion

In short, these basic and advanced Twitter search operators offer users the ability to personalize and refine their searches, making it easier to find the information they need.