In the same vein as my post on Editing a Facebook Preview Link, I recently stumbled upon a feature I have never used on Twitter: Twitter Advanced Search. If you’re looking to extract some useful information out of the Twitter stream, try zooming in on specific tweet parameters.
You can add or take away words or phrases in a search or include hashtags. You can select language or list accounts you want to include that have either tweeted, were the recipients of tweets or were simply mentioned in a tweet.
The part I find really interesting is the Location field where you can specify within a 1000 mile radius of a particularly geographic location but also down to one mile. For those of you looking for geo-targeted data, this can be helpful.
There are also variables for sentiment (positive or negative) or a checkbox to just search for questions asked and the option to include retweets. The questions asked feature could be handy if you provide advice on certain topics and want to see if anyone is asking questions related to your expertise.
You can find Advanced Search after you’ve conducted a preliminary search. Just click the settings gear to the right side of the Search button, and you’ll see the option. Or you can go to https://twitter.com/#!/search-advanced and bookmark the search page.
Here’s an example of standard results when I searched for Alaska:
And then a refined search where I zeroed in on people within a 100 mile radius of Fairbanks, Alaska who were asking a question:
The results aren’t perfect, but with a little practice, you can begin to refine your searches even further.
If I were in tourism in Fairbanks, for example, I could find out who recently asked a question about Alaska and potentially find people who are planning a trip. I could then thoughtfully tweet out a response in a timely and appropriate manner to start a dialogue and potentially help them with their travel plans.
That’s just one of many possibilities that an advanced search on Twitter can open up for you as you look to use Twitter more strategically.
How are you using Advanced Twitter Search?