# How can I search twitter without having an account? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-search-twitter-without-having-an-account/695740 "2014-08-17T04:38:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-search-twitter-without-having-an-account/695740/1 "2014-08-17T04:38:05Z")
I have heard that twitter is excellent for local news events, one example I can think of it that during the death of Osama Bin Ladin several people near the compound tweeted about seeing or hearing gunshots or bizarre looking helicopters in the area. This intrigues me and I’d like to make use of twitter for such ultra local news/conditions like flooding and such, but going to the website twitter won’t allow you to do anything unless you make an account. Do you have to make an account just to search tweets by location, or read others tweets? Or is this possible even if you do have an account. ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-search-twitter-without-having-an-account/695740/2 "2014-08-17T05:36:03Z")
Have you tried something like [HOWTO: Search the SDMB using Google](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638051) but searching in Twitter instead? For example [this]([site:twitter.com - Google Search](http://www.google.com/search?q=site:twitter.com) “Osama Bin Laden” Abbottabad). ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-search-twitter-without-having-an-account/695740/3 "2014-08-17T13:19:48Z")
Perhaps it is worth pointing out that Twitter accounts are free, and having one does not commit you to doing any “tweeting” or to “following” anyone, etc. ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-search-twitter-without-having-an-account/695740/4 "2014-08-18T02:14:43Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Perhaps it is worth pointing out that Twitter accounts are free, and having one does not commit you to doing any “tweeting” or to “following” anyone, etc. Like other such web services, “free” of course is not paying money to join, and is giving up some privacy to the service, depending on the account settings. For example see the [Twitter Privacy Policy](https://twitter.com/privacy), (the “Effective: October 21, 2013” version) including > [@](#): > > **Links:** Twitter may keep track of how you interact with links across our Services, including our email notifications, third-party services, and client applications, by redirecting clicks or through other means. We do this to help improve our Services, to provide more relevant advertising, and to be able to share aggregate click statistics such as how many times a particular link was clicked on. > > **Log Data:** Our servers automatically record information (“Log Data”) created by your use of the Services. Log Data may include information such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, the referring web page, pages visited, location, your mobile carrier, device and application IDs, search terms, and cookie information… > > [etc.] That looks to me to be typical for such services. I for one am not (yet, if ever) a Twitterer, but per [About](https://about.twitter.com/company) there are 271 million monthly active users, and 500 million Tweets are sent per day. The 3,300 employees drink 585 gallons of coffee per week. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-search-twitter-without-having-an-account/695740/5 "2014-08-18T02:31:51Z")
> [@from\_a\_to\_z](#): > > Like other such web services, “free” of course is not paying money to join, and is giving up some privacy to the service, depending on the account settings. For example see the [Twitter Privacy Policy](https://twitter.com/privacy), (the “Effective: October 21, 2013” version) includingThat looks to me to be typical for such services Right, but if he did as I suggested, i.e., join but not do any tweeting or following, there would be none of that information to be collected. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-search-twitter-without-having-an-account/695740/6 "2014-08-18T04:41:44Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Right, but if he did as I suggested, i.e., join but not do any tweeting or following, there would be none of that information to be collected. Of course there would be. The OP is specifically interested in searching Twitter, and the Twitter Terms of Service quoted here specifically mention that search terms will be logged. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-search-twitter-without-having-an-account/695740/7 "2014-08-18T05:32:48Z")
The Twitter [search page](https://twitter.com/search-home) does not require an account. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-search-twitter-without-having-an-account/695740/8 "2014-08-18T08:19:09Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > The Twitter [search page](https://twitter.com/search-home) does not require an account. Thank you! Hah I went to themain twitter page but could not locate this.