Six Powerful Uses for Twitter Search

In my last post, I talked about my adventures with Twitter over the last six months. While twitter is a great way to communicate with friends and family, the real power of the application lies in its search function.

What sets Twitter apart from its competition is its timeliness. Thousands of people are sending tweets at any given time about everything imaginable. It’s this live data that can be incredibly useful. If you search on Google, the results may be weeks, months, or years old. With Twitter Search, you’ve can get results that have been posted literally seconds ago.

This speed lends itself to many different applications. I’ve listed six popular ones below.

1. The Job Market: In this trying economy, many people have found themselves out of work and searching for a job. With over 10% unemployment in many areas, the competition for jobs is intense. Here is where Twitter can give you an edge. Many employers and job search firms are now posting job leads on Twitter. You can easily search by company name, job title, duties, or location.

I did a couple of job searches in my local Temecula area and found quite a few listing links. The interesting thing was many of the posts were filled quickly. The speed of Twitter may give you the jump on the competition and also alert you of upcoming corporate job fairs. It also may be a place to tweet about your expertise. Tweeting “Web Designer Temecula” with a link to your online resume on LinkedIn, may bring business right to your door.

2. Real Estate Listings: With all the foreclosures and short sales in the Real estate market, buyers have found themselves competing with literally hundreds of other buyers to find low cost properties. It’s not uncommon to see 20-30 offers on one house.

In talking with some friends in the business, it is imperative to be quick on your feet to get the good deals. This is where Twitter comes in. If you follow the local market and agents on Twitter, you can be informed within minutes of new listings. If you are pre-qualified you may have a great chance of getting accepted for a property before anyone else knows about it. Twitter is also a great place to see how your local market is trending.

3. The Stock Market: With Wall Street and the economy going through intense volatility in the last year, it’s really important to have timely news about a company before investing. Twitter gives you a great way to find out the up to the minute news on the market as well as most company stocks.

Lets say you are interested in investing in Apple computer stock. Just type in the ticker for Apple, AAPL into Twitter search. When I did this today, I found out a lot of interesting things. I found out how the stack was performing and I found links to upcoming products and applications. With a rumored Apple netbook in the works as well as a Facebook application for the iPhone coming soon, it seemed to me that Apple is still on the cutting edge in technology. This timely investment knowledge can be crucial to making smart investment decisions.

4. Sports: Want to know the latest sports scores? Twitter is the place to be. Whether it is a home run or a hole in one, you’ll know about it quicker on Twitter that just about anywhere else. The cool thing is, Twitter search can find those links quick… and for teams or players that may not be broadcasting on any other medium.

Whether it’s Tiger Woods, Dale Earnhardt, or your local triple A baseball player, you’ll find keyword searches will bring up fans that are tweeting live from the game on their cell phones. Not only will you know the score, but you’ll find live fan reviews and outlooks that you’ll get nowhere else.

5. Deals and Coupons: Interested in buying a domain name? Why not head over to GoDaddy and pick one up. But before you do, do a Twitter search for GoDaddy coupon codes. Twitter will help you find unexpired coupons for domain names as well as thousands of other products.

Since coupons expire quickly, Twitter may be your best resource for these money saving items. Before you buy, do a coupon search and potentially save yourself a lot of money.

6. Tech Reviews & Problems: Want to buy a new laptop? Type the brand or model number into Twitter search. You’ll find pertinent links to reviews and potential problems. Buying a new car? Twitter can give you up to the minute deals at local dealers as well as information on recalls and manufacturer problems.

I’ve personally found Twitter search very helpful for technical software problems. Is your browser crashing since the latest upgrade? Search twitter for the browser name followed by the word crash. Thinking about new software? Why not search for reviews before you buy?

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These are just some of the great uses for Twitter Search. As with any search results, you need to use common sense when evaluating search results.

To make it even more useful, when you do a search in Twitter, you’ll get a “Save This Search” link next to the results. Click on it and your search will be saved in your sidebar. Now you can search for that new job, stock pick, or sports score with just one click. Be sure to save Twitter Search in your browser favorites today.