There are times when something you read on Twitter comes to mind, but you don’t know who posted it or yes, but you don’t remember when they did it. So you go to the search engine and after several attempts you find nothing. Relax, because it is normal for this to happen. At the speed that content is published on the platform, it is very difficult to find anything unless you do it using the advanced options. So let’s see how to accurately search Twitter .
Twitter and advanced search
As with other search engines, by default Twitter’s what it performs are basic searches in relation to the term or terms you enter. If it is something very recent, it will be easy for you to find it, or if your timeline is not very active. But if this is not the case, things get very complicated.
For this reason, as is also the case in most search engines, you can opt for the advanced search options and by means of logical operators add conditions that must be met or not. In this way, it is more likely that you will reach the result you want with almost millimeter precision.
So let’s do it, and to use advanced search you have several options. The first is to learn these operators and how to use them through the default search box. Something feasible, but still not for everyone. Because we don’t think that remembering things like from :, to :, since :, etc., is easy for everyone.
Therefore, the most recommended option is to go to Twitter’s own advanced search interface. And this is only and exclusively available through twitter.com . That is, you have to access the web from any browser to be able to use it.
Once you are on the Twitter page with your web browser, go to the search box, enter the term and then click on the three-dot icon. You will see an option to go to Advanced Search appears. You just have to click and it will appear. Or, the easiest method of all, click on this link twitter.com/search-advanced and add it to favorites if you think you might need it more times.
Refine advanced search
Now that you are in the advanced search options, it is important to know which parameters it allows. It is also important that you know that you do not have to limit yourself to just one, you can fill in different search boxes and options so that the whole search process is much more precise.
These are the advanced options available:
Words
- All these words: here you enter a single term or several and it will search where all of them appear regardless of the order
- This exact phrase: it will only search for those tweets that contain the phrase as you have written it
- Any of these words: it is similar to the first option, the difference is that not all the words have to be in the tweet
- None of these words: to avoid any tweet that mentions a specific word
- These Hashtags: as the name suggests, search for tags added to a tweet using the pound sign #
- Any language: option to limit to a specific language
Accounts
In the event that you are looking for information on a specific account or accounts, with these options you can limit much better. These are the available options:
- From these accounts: tweets sent by the following accounts entered
- To these accounts: the same for the tweets they receive in response
- Mention of these accounts: to know who has mentioned a word or user
Filters
Twitter’s advanced search also allows you to use filters to further refine your results. So you have these options:
- Answers (yes or no)
- Include original replies and tweets to results
- Just show answers
- Contain or not links
- Show only tweets with links
Interaction
In terms of interaction, this field allows you to set the minimum number of responses you have received, the minimum number of likes, or the minimum number of retweets. You enter the amount and if it is not exceeded, those tweets are omitted even if they contain what you are looking for.
Dates
Finally, a very interesting option is to limit by date. In this way, if you want to know what any Twitter profile published on a specific date or interval, you just have to set the day for the from and to.
The secret to finding what you are looking for
As you can see, now performing a search on Twitter changes completely with respect to the basic search engine. And surely you already understand better how some users are able to find what someone said at some point quickly.
It can even be interesting if you are not one of those who delete their tweets from time to time, to see what you were commenting on on this social network just a year ago, on your birthday or any other specific date that interests you.
