12 Twitter Search Tools

I use Twitter as a social network platform, where I tweet bits of information about myself or my companies or my opinions. I also use it as a business research tool. Recently I was asked to write an article for a publication on how to use Twitter for business research, and in the midst of that writing I responded to a private email list inquiry about search tools available for Twitter.

Well, in that response to the private email list query, I copied some of the tools I use and shared it with the group. Now, mind you, I said some of the tools. I first copied ALL of the tools I use to search Twitter – and that numbers close to 60 – but then realized that listing a few would answer the researcher’s question.

So, I took the top 12 tools that I use on a regular basis and the response I received, from more than 1 person, was “Please post this on your blog!” Hmm. What a great idea! LOL And rather than list all 50+ sites I’m sticking with the top 12 because it’ll be easier on you to read and copy and it’s easier on my poor fingers (it’s the typing the descriptions that was getting to me…and hey! I’m in the middle of a really intense business research project!) Anyway, here’s the list and I hope you find it helpful. Feel free to link to it – copy and paste to a Word document – return to this post as reference – just use it please! Oh, and if you find it helpful, let me know by leaving a comment.

Top 12 Twitter Search Tools I Use

1. Backtweets: http://backtweets.com
Search app which can search for links and short urls on Twitter. You can use
this tool to see how many people have tweeted a specific link. It doesn’t
matter if the link was shortened using a url shortener. This tool will show
that in the results.

2. Nearby Tweets: http://nearbytweets.com
Lets you discover tweets from local users. It uses Google Maps to find your
location and then shows the tweets by Twitter users near you. Handy for
businesses looking to expand their local footprint. They can check what’s
buzzing among the local community.

3. Tweetmeme: http://tweetmeme.com
The tweetmeme is the retweet button on blogs. This search app shows the most
popular tweets across the web and has a search function.

4. Areaface: http://www.areaface.com
Lets you search location based tweets via keywords and phrases. You can
pinpoint a location on Google Maps and it will show recent tweets as well as
Twitter users from that area in a visually attractive interface.

5. Twellow: http://twellow.com
The yellow pages of Twitter. It organizes the information it has gathered
from Twitter in a yellow pages format. You can search for services, for
people in different professions, etc. Like a twitter directory.

6. Schmap Picks: http://www.schmap.com/picks
For searching reviews on Twitter about restaurants and bars. So far only
covers major cities in US, i.e. New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.
But useful.

7. Monittor: http://monittor.com
Well known reputation management tool for Twitter. It can display different
keyword and phrase searches on Twitter, all parallel to each other in a neat
interface. And it’s real time.

8. Local Follow: http://www.locafollow.com
Aims to simplify your search for Twitter users by giving 4 main search
fields – Bio, Location, Name and Tweets (if you remember the tweet but not
the tweeter). Uses Twitter’s API and Google search to produce a list of
profiles based on your keywords.

9. Snapbird: http://snapbird.org
Search the timelines of friends or through your direct messages for a
keyword.

10. Searchtastic: http://www.searchtastic.com
Easter and faster than Snapbird for basic searches. You can export your
search results to a spreadsheet.

11. TweetScan: http://tweetscan.com
If you’re trying to find specific content, this search engine tracks
keywords or phrases for you then delivers what it finds to you via: onsite
search results, email or RSS.

12. Topsy: http://topsy.com
A search engine that follows conversations around the Web based on a Twitter
springboard of over 30 million users and what they’re talking about. It’s an
amazing way to find out what people are talking about in real time.