Reddit is an amazing information resource. You still need to know how to properly search for content. Here’s what you need to know.
Reddit is a great community, but when it comes to searching across multiple posts, the platform is far from perfect. As a result, finding specific content is a lot more difficult than it should be, so much so that some people have started doing Google searches simply by adding “Reddit”. But Reddit search can be more accurate and efficient if you know how to use it to its full potential.
Reddit Filters Can Help Narrow Your Search
Perhaps the most powerful tools are filters. These keywords tell Redit to only search for specific content, rather than the entire database. However, you must know the login conditions in order to take advantage of this. There are eight in total and you can use them like this:
- author: To filter by username. For example, “Author:PresidentObama”will display content posted by u/PresidentObama.
- flair: to filter by subreddit flair, in other words, this filter will vary by subreddit. Some use flair to categorize posts. In this case, typing “flair:discussion”will only display results based on conversations and debates, and not, for example, news.
- self: to filter content only on a single account, not on posts that link to another site. Use “self:true”to search for text messages only, and “self:false”for all other types.
- selftext: To search for specific text. “selftext:dogs”will return all messages containing the word “dogs”.
- site: to search for specific URLs. For example, “site:begeek.fr”will return all posts containing a link to begeek.fr.
- subreddit: for filtering in this subreddit. “subreddit: askreddit”will only search for r/askreddit. If you start your search on a subreddit, Reddit will already narrow down your search to that subreddit.
- title: To filter by title. With the title: “broken keyboard”you will only have posts containing “broken keyboard”in the title. Note: To use multiple words, always enclose them in quotation marks.
- URL: To search for specific words in a URL. Often combined with the “site”filter. For example, “site:begeek.fr url:iphone”will return all posts containing a link to begeek.fr with the word iphone in the URL.
These filters can be very useful or completely useless, but with the right combination of them, your searches will be much more accurate. If you want to know why your iPhone is getting hot, try something like “subreddit:iPhone title:overheating fan:question”. Try!
Boolean operators go even further
You can also use logical operators (AND, OR, NOT). Pay attention to capital letters, this is very important. Use like this:
- Placing an AND between two words or groups of words tells Reddit to search for all of the listed words. Searching for “iPhone AND Android”will find messages containing both iPhone and Android. “iPhone AND Android AND compare”will return messages containing those three words.
- Use OR between two words or groups of words to find at least one of them. “Mac OR Windows”will return messages containing Mac, Windows, or Mac and Windows.
- NOT used between two words or groups of words to indicate that you want the first and not the second. “iPhone NOT iPad”will only return messages containing an iPhone, not an iPad.
You can also use parentheses for clarification when using multiple logical operators. For example, a search for “iPhone NOT iPad OR Android”will exclude messages with the word iPad, but will show messages from iPhone or Android. “iPhone NOT (iPad OR Android)”, on the other hand, will only show messages containing the word iPhone, not iPad or Android.
Other Reddit Tools You Shouldn’t Ignore
We should not forget about more transparent search tools. When performing a search, you will be able to filter by Posts, Comments, Communities, and People. In the Filter section, you also have the option to filter the results by Relevance, Hot, Top, New, or Most Comments. Slightly more useful, perhaps, is the Time filter option with All Time, Last Year, Month, Week, 24 Hours, and Hour.
All of these tools should allow you to be more efficient in your Reddit search. And if you don’t succeed the first time, try adding more filters or removing some. It would be more efficient if Reddit added a visual interface for using these filters, as Gmail suggests, but for now, you’ll have to use them manually.