Boolean search logic5/3/2023 ![]() If you’re searching for phrases (terms made up of multiple words) then you have to put them in quotation marks (eg “Notre Dame”).Operators (AND, OR, NOT) must be written in capitals, or they won’t work.For example, you might want to exclude mentions of the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and so you could write “Notre Dame” NOT “hunchback”. NOT allows you to exclude terms you don’t want to appear in your search results. This will retrieve all results containing either phrase. In the case of Notre Dame, you could search for “Notre Dame” OR “Notre Dam”. This can be good for misspellings and typos. OR allows you to broaden your search to retrieve results connecting two or more similar terms. For example, you might want to search for “Notre Dame” and fire. There are three operators for basic searches: AND, OR, and NOT.ĪND allows you to narrow your search to only retrieve results that combine two or more terms. This is possible with ‘operators’, which allow you to combine multiple keywords. You want to search for Notre Dame, but you won’t want posts about the Disney film.Ī boolean search will allow you to include posts that mention “Notre Dame”, but exclude ones about the Disney film to refine your search results and find the information you’re after. For example, let’s say you’re searching for posts during a breaking news event, such as the Notre Dame fire. How to write a basic search queryīoolean searches help you to specify exactly what you are looking or not looking for. Facebook used to support Boolean searches, though it appears it no longer does. Twitter, Reddit and Google currently support Boolean searches, while YouTube supports them to some extent on top of its advanced search function (a Boolean search on YouTube might not work when sorting by ‘relevance’, but will when sorted by upload date). ![]() In this quick guide, we run through the basics of what you need to know to search social media for effective newsgathering.Ī quick note: platforms vary. These strings of words allow you to cut through the usual social media chatter by upgrading a default search to a multifaceted, specific search to find more precise snippets of information. This is where Boolean search queries help. ![]() When searching for newsworthy content online, you’ve got to know exactly what you’re looking for and have the skills to find it.
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