Guide to Keyword Types and Management in Social Listening

When adding keywords to a monitor, different keyword types give you control over how broadly or precisely you track content. This article covers the keyword types available, language considerations that affect tracking accuracy, platform-specific keyword limits, and how to modify topics and keywords after a monitor is created.

Keyword Types

Single Word: tracks a single word anywhere within a post. Example: Riyadh

Phrase: tracks multiple words appearing in any order within a post. Example: Taif Parks

Hashtag: tracks posts containing a specific hashtag. Example: #Saudi_Arabia

Mention: tracks posts mentioning a specific user. Example: @lucidya

Exact Match: available on X only. Tracks words that exactly match the input using the ^ symbol. Example: ^Ahmed

Quoted Phrase: tracks a phrase exactly as written, maintaining word order. Example: "Saudi Arabia"

Parentheses with Logical Operators: tracks specific word combinations using AND, OR, and NOT logic. Example: (Juice AND Apple) OR (Juice AND Orange)

NOT Operator: excludes specific words from tracking. Example: School NOT "Driving School"

OR Operator: tracks posts containing any of multiple specified words. Example: Riyadh OR Saudi OR Jeddah

Language Considerations

English is not case sensitive. The system treats uppercase and lowercase letters as the same. Riyadh and riyadh will return the same results.

Arabic letter variations are treated as distinct characters. The system differentiates between similar-looking letters such as tied taa (ة) and haa (ه), hamza forms (ء, ئ, إ), and ya (ي) versus alif maqsoora (ى). To ensure comprehensive tracking, enter all possible spelling variations of Arabic words.

Keyword Limits by Platform

Each platform has a maximum number of keywords per monitor screen.

X: 500 keywords per screen

Facebook: 100 keywords per screen

Instagram: 30 keywords per authenticated account

News and Blogs: 100 keywords per screen, including added keywords, selected countries, languages, and primary articles

Modifying Topics and Keywords

You can update topics and their keywords at any time to keep your classification accurate and aligned with evolving discussions. From the monitor settings you can add new topics, edit or delete existing topics, and add or update keywords within any topic.

For steps on creating and managing topics see How to Create and Use Topic Classification in Social Listening.

For further assistance contact Lucidya Support.