For getting the most out of Twitter's search interface
Twitter API
Update 2/13/23 Twitter announced the Academic Research API will be replaced with new "low-cost, basic access that offers a low level of API usage, and full access to Ads API for a $100 monthly fee". More information will be available on the website
Twitter Curated Datasets for Researchers
As of 2/13/23 Twitter says it is exploring "free, purpose-built, low-code datasets" for research. More information is available here and sign up to be notified when it's available
Brandwatch replaces Meltwater for social media searching and analytics
The Library has 10 queries/projects that we can make available to our researchers in Brandwatch, a social media listening tool. Brandwatch has full firehose data for Twitter, Reddit and Tumblr back to 2010. Brandwatch does not have Facebook or Instagram data.
Fill out this form to request access to a query. Brandwatch can be used for academic research only.
Your access to Brandwatch will be limited in time and then your query will be deleted to make room for the next interested researcher. Brandwatch sets strict limits on downloads. Brandwatch is not a good source for exporting large amounts of tweets, the Twitter API or Twitter Decahose are better options.
Brandwatch can be used by researchers from the Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses.
If you're affiliated with Ross you should access Brandwatch through the account managed by the Kresge Library
University of Michigan researchers can access a compilation of tweets known as the “Decahose” (a 10% sample of all tweets) without charge. MIDAS, CSCAR and ARC-TS together manage and support the use of this data repository, including the historical archive of Decahose tweets and ongoing collection from the Decahose.
U-M researchers can use this set of data for five areas of research: information diffusion; Natural Language Processing; network analysis; behavior analysis; Sociolinguistics.
See the MIDAS website for more information and to inquire about access