GraphPath

Is there specific rules to write a search term?

In fact there are. Rules are easy but change depending on the source you choose to look for comments, post, tweets containing the term/s you want.

Twitter:

Twitter allows the use of operators. Here is a list of possible search terms, and results examples so you can better understand how and when you can use them to improve search results.

Operators:

Depending on what you are looking for, type:

happy anniversary: to capture tweets that contain both words “happy” and “anniversary” randomly placed in the message body.

“full moon”: to capture tweets that contain the exact combination “full moon”.

love OR hate: to capture tweets that contain any of those words, “love” or “hate”.

sky -cloudy: to capture tweets that contain “sky” but not “cloudy”.

#socialmetrix: to capture tweets with the hashtag socialmetrix.

Feeds RSS:

Searches on our database of feeds allows the use of operators. Here is a full list of the operators that can be used. 

banana	Search for banana anywhere in the text
banana split	Search for banana and split anywhere in the text; both terms must be present
banana AND apple	Idem previous example: search for banana anywhere in the text, also look for apple anywhere in the text; both terms must be present.
banana OR split	Search for banana or split anywhere in the text; if one of the terms is present in the text, it's enough
"banana split"	Search for banana split (literally) anywhere in the text
NOT cherry	Search for comments that doesn't have the word Cherry in the text
man*	Search for terms beginning with man (eg., "man", "manage", "mandarin", etc.)
*man	(No allowed)
in*ble	Search for terms beginning with in and ends with ble (eg., "invincible", inadmissible, etc.)
?man	(No allowed)
can?s	Search for terms beginning with can, and ends with s
(Batman AND Robin) OR Superman	Search for comments containing Batman anywhere and also Robin anywhere in the text OR Superman anywhere in the text.
batman AND (NOT robin)	Search for comments containing Batman in the text but not Robin.

How do I know which search terms should I use?

You can start by doing an Advanced Google Search of your required term. If that search brings you relevant information, then that term is an efficient one. If on the contrary, the information it is not relevant to you, that term is too ambiguous.

 Another practice is to use the least amount of generic terms to refer to the brands, products and campaigns that you are interested to analyze. Build a group of terms that defines your brand and therefore capture relevant comments for you analysis. This way you will be optimizing your capture.

 

What is a generic Search Term?

It is a word that it is not specific enough to refer to a brand, product or campaign. It could be used in several contexts. Because of that, it may not be as effective to capture comments for your analysis. If you consider this term useful you can always use it, check results and delete it if it didn't work.

 e.g.
Let’s say you want to capture information about a brand like CLARO (cell phone carrier), by using the generic term: claro, that also will be referring to the spanish word claro that can be used in several contexts.

As a result, you will be capturing tons of information with the search term "claro" within the captured comments. This could result in a wide sample with unhelpful information.

 

What happens when I use generic search terms to look for comments about my brand, product or campaign?

You may be capturing a huge amount of irrelevant information for your analysis increasing costs and decreasing the final quality of your information.