A while back I wrote a post featuring several tips for searching Google like a pro, and it turned out to be a pretty popular post with approximately 1,100 shares to date.
Since that post went live I’ve received several requests for a similar post featuring tips for searching Twitter. And well, here it is!
Just as with Google, there are several ways to use the Twitter search box to quickly find the exact information you’re looking for. Here are several of the most useful ones:
1 – You can search for an exact phrase or group of words by enclosing them in quotation marks.
Example: A search for “best seafood restaurant” will result in a list of tweets containing that exact phrase.
2 – You can use the OR operator to find tweets that contain at least one of words you’re searching for.
Example: A search for green or blue will result in a list of tweets that contain the word green, the word blue, or both of those words. Tweets that contain both words will be displayed first.
3 – You can use the – (minus) operator to omit a specific word from the search results.
Example: A search for Australia -Outback will result in a list of tweets that contain the word Australia but DO NOT contain the word Outback.
4 – You can use the from: operator to search for tweets that were tweeted by one specific user.
Example: A search for from:RicksDailyTips will result in a list of tweets that I tweeted from my @RicksDailyTips Twitter account.
You can also use the from: operator with a person’s name.
Example: A search for from:BillGates will result in a list of tweets that were tweeted by Bill Gates.
5 – You can use the to: operator to search for tweets that other users tweeted to a specific person.
Example: A search for to:BillGates will result in a list of tweets that other users tweeted to Bill Gates.
6 – You can use the @ operator to search for tweets that mentioned a user.
Example: A search for @BillGates will result in a list of tweets in which the user @BillGates is mentioned.
There are several other search operators you can use on Twitter as well, but the ones mentioned above are by far the most popular (and most useful) ones in the bunch.
Bonus tip #1: This post explains how to download an archive of every Tweet you’ve ever posted!
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