Twitter Advanced Search Techniques

Table of contents
  1. Twitter Advanced Search Techniques
    1. Basic Search Operators
    2. Advanced Filters
      1. Engagement Filters
      2. Temporal and Geographic Filters
      3. Tweet Characteristics
    3. Practical Search Combinations
    4. Access Methods

Basic Search Operators

Twitter’s advanced search functionality provides powerful filtering capabilities for OSINT investigations:

  • Keywords: word1 word2 (tweets containing both words)
  • Exact phrases: "exact phrase" (tweets with this exact sequence)
  • Exclusion: -word (excludes tweets containing this word)
  • Either/or: word1 OR word2 (tweets containing either term)
  • Hashtags: #hashtag (tweets with specific hashtag)
  • Accounts: from:username (tweets sent by specific account)
  • Mentions: to:username (tweets in reply to an account)
  • Mentions in any context: @username (tweets mentioning an account)

Advanced Filters

Engagement Filters

  • Minimum retweets: min_retweets:number
  • Minimum likes: min_faves:number
  • Minimum replies: min_replies:number
  • Filter for links: filter:links
  • Filter for media: filter:media
  • Filter for images: filter:images
  • Filter for videos: filter:videos

Temporal and Geographic Filters

  • Date range: since:YYYY-MM-DD until:YYYY-MM-DD
  • Geolocation: geocode:latitude,longitude,radius (e.g., geocode:40.7128,-74.0060,5km)
  • Near location: near:"Location Name"
  • Within radius: near:"City" within:15km
  • Language: lang:code (e.g., lang:en for English)

Tweet Characteristics

  • Positive attitude: 🙂 OR :) OR filter:positive
  • Negative attitude: 🙁 OR :( OR filter:negative
  • Questions: ? or filter:questions
  • Retweets only: filter:retweets
  • Native retweets only: filter:nativeretweets
  • Verified users: filter:verified
  • Safe content: filter:safe

Practical Search Combinations

  • Content from a user within a date range: from:username since:2023-01-01 until:2023-12-31

  • Geolocated tweets about a topic: near:"London, UK" within:25km "protest" since:2023-06-01

  • High-engagement tweets about a topic: "artificial intelligence" min_retweets:100 lang:en -filter:retweets

  • Media shared by a specific user: from:username filter:media -filter:retweets

  • Conversations between specific users: from:username1 to:username2 OR from:username2 to:username1

  • Link sharing on a topic by verified users: "climate change" filter:links filter:verified since:2023-01-01

Access Methods

  • Graphical interface: Access via https://twitter.com/search-advanced

Remember that all Twitter searches should comply with Twitter’s Terms of Service and appropriate legal frameworks for your jurisdiction.