Twitter’s default search feature is great for viewing general consensus on a topic or finding accounts. However, when you try to find a single tweet or thread, it’s not that good.
This is where advanced search comes in. Advanced search is available on the Twitter website, where you can find Tweets that contain specific words, were sent on a specific date, or were written by a specific user. The last feature is probably the most important – it allows you to search for individual users’ tweets to find any tweets they send.
In addition to letting you see if your favorite users have tweeted on topics that interest you, disinformation experts use this feature to debunk hoaxes. For example, if you see a screenshot of something a celebrity posted on Twitter, you can use an advanced search to see if it’s real.
Here’s how to search for anything in someone’s tweet.
How to search through someone’s tweets
1. Go to the Twitter advanced search page.
2. A pop-up window with various text boxes will appear. Scroll down to Accounts, and in the From these accounts field, enter the username of the person you want to search for Tweets. You’ll need to enter their exact @[name] – you won’t get suggestions.
3. Scroll up to Words and specify the keyword or phrase you want to search for for that user’s tweet.
4. If you prefer, scroll down to the “Filters”, “Participation” and “Dates” sections to make your search more precise.
5. When you’re ready, click Search in the upper-right corner to go to the page with the search results.
