Small business owners – do you carry out your own social media activity (rather than hire a Virtual Assistant to do it for you)? If so, I’m sure you do it as quickly as possible so you can tick it off your list and get on with the next task at hand.
In which case this list of Twitter shortcuts could be just what you’re looking for to help save you time and enable you to find relevant key information much more easily:
1. Remove all RT’s from search results
If you’re looking for results on a certain topic (i.e. your industry, niche etc) avoiding any duplication from RT’s then this is a great little trick. Simply add –RT after your search and all the retweets will be removed from the results.
2. Show results from a certain location
This can be really useful to local businesses as it enables you to promote or find key information in your area i.e. for promoting a limited time offer, or you want to focus on a specific area for your social media. When creating your search type the place and radius of your search area i.e. London within:3mi
3. Results that show tweets with links.
If you want to display tweets that contain links, perhaps to find something specific, then this is the shortcut for you. Simply add filter:links to your search and voilà, they’ll appear.
4. Tweets from a specific user
If you’re searching for tweets from a specific user to make contact with or simply to stay on top of their latest news and comments, add from:username to your search phrase i.e. from:sarahannebegley
5. Results of questions or emotions
To display emotive results or results that only display questions add the following to the end of your search phrase:
- 🙂
- 🙁
- ?
6. Search specific dates
To display results within a certain time period i.e. from a certain date or up until a certain date, type one of the following into the search box:
- since:2013-03-01
- until:2013-06-01
NB: Just remember to use the US date format!
7. Save your regular searches
Stop going through the same routine each time to display a specific search. Instead you can save your regular searches and save you that much needed time.
Simply type your search and submit it, then using the drop down on the right hand side in the ‘Tool’ icon, click ‘Save search’. Done!
8. Twitter’s Advanced Search
This final one is for those of you who may not have time to memorise the above or refer back to this guide, but will still save you time. There is already an Advanced Search functionality on Twitter.
Simply tip in your search criteria and hit the ‘Search’ button. This can also be saved, so set up as many as you need and get through your social media tasks more efficiently.
Leave a Reply