Boolean search is a powerful tool when it comes to creating Mention Streams on the Streem platform, allowing you to refine your search results and create a more advanced search for media coverage. However, the complex nature of Boolean operators may leave you wondering what’s the best way to create the most powerful and accurate queries to locate your coverage.
Here are our top 5 tips on how to effectively use Boolean on the Streem platform:
1. AND VS NEAR
The AND and NEAR operators are useful tools to aid the contextualisation of keywords when searching for specific themes, issues, campaigns, events, etc.
AND requires the coverage within the Mention Stream to contain two or more search terms within the query. These keywords can be at any point within a Print or Online article, or within the same 30-second timeframe for Radio and TV. This is useful for a broader approach when searching on the platform.
The query below searches for coverage that mentions both Housing and Sydney.
((“Housing”) AND (“Sydney”))
NEAR requires one set of keywords to appear in close proximity to another set of keywords for the relevant coverage to appear within the Mention Stream. Using a NEAR operator helps to filter results within a Mention Stream, refining coverage for the desired searching or reporting requirements of your team.
The query below searches for coverage that mentions the Housing Crisis within 10 words of Sydney.
((“Housing Crisis”) NEAR/10 (“Sydney”))
2. Source Tier Operator
The Source Tier Operator is an effective mechanism to filter coverage within a Mention Stream to high-level National and Metro Print, Online, Radio, and TV sources only.
The query below searches for coverage across Tier 1 sources that mention the Housing Crisis for the relevant items to appear in the Mention Stream.
((source.tier: 1) AND (“Housing Crisis”))
3. ATLEAST Operator
The ATLEAST Operator is a great way to set a threshold for how many times a keyword should be mentioned. This can be a way to cut through the noise and avoid passing mentions of a particular subject.
The query below searches for coverage that must mention "Housing Crisis" at least twice to appear within the Mention Stream.
(“Housing Crisis” ATLEAST/2)
4. Author Query
The Author Query allows you to limit your search results to specific journalists’ coverage, whether it be all articles they publish or restricted to specific topics.
The query below searches for all articles written by Adele Ferguson in Print and Online publications.
((author: “Adele Ferguson”) AND (“Adele Ferguson”))
The second query searches for all articles written by Adele Ferguson in Print and Online publications that mention the keyword finance.
((author: “Adele Ferguson”) AND (“finance”))
5. Title Query
The title query is a useful operator to refine your query results to coverage with the specified keyword/s within the headline.
The query below searches for all Print and Online articles which have the keyword superannuation within the title.
title: (“Superannuation”)
Boolean is just one of the many powerful tools in the Streem platform to enable you to leverage Streem’s comprehensive realtime media monitoring service. Get in touch today to learn how you can start taking advantage of Streem’s market-leading media monitoring and social listening platform.