Union Metrics Help

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Echo FAQs

How is Echo different from a Tracker?

Union Metrics Echo graphs tweet volumes over time to allow you to see growth and spikes in trends for any search term on Twitter. It's a great research tool to find interesting inflection points in a topic's development. Our Trackers provide in-depth analytics on all the tweets, and include a variety of metrics like reach and exposure. You can also see each individual tweet in its full text and find the users and hashtags that generated the most activity around the conversation. 

Can I create a Tracker or historical report from my Echo search?

Yes! You can start a new real-time Tracker filled with the data you selected in Echo. If your data is older, you will have the option of creating a one-time historical report (in the Tracker format) with that data. Depending on the level of Echo you have, the number of tweets you can include in a backfill or historical report will vary, as well as the number of reports you can run each month (those limits are explained here). You can upgrade your plan to gather more tweets or run more reports. Just contact us for more information! 

What's the difference between "Track" and "Report"?

From every Echo query, we'll give you options to "track" or "report", depending on the time frame you have isolated in your search. If you have isolated a point in the past, the "report" button will allow you to create a historical report that containing tweets and in-depth analysis for just that date range. If you have selected a date range that runs through the current time, you can create a Tracker that contains this highlighted data as well as continues to gather data in real time using the "track" button. With the "track" button, you're essentially customizing the backfill for a new ongoing Tracker. 

What can I search for?


  • keyword 
  • "exact phrase match" 
  • keyword OR keyword
  • keyword -keyword
  • (keyword OR keyword) keyword
  • from:username
  • @username 
  • #hashtag 




What is a streamgraph?

Echo displays the volume of tweets for your query centered on one horizontal axis. This allows you to easily see the general trend of tweets and spikes in tweet volume. You can learn more here: http://leebyron.com/streamgraph/ and http://www.visualisingdata.com/2010/08/making-sense-of-streamgraphs/

How do I read this streamgraph?

The layers are stacked, not overlapping. You can pan and zoom using the top graph, and hover over the big graph for more detail. You can read this much like you would read an earthquake seismograph.

How far back can Echo go? 

By default, all Social Suite subscriptions will have access to Echo data from the past 30 days. However, we also offer two additional access levels that include data from the past 365 days and the full Twitter archive (which goes back to March 2006). Want to get more? Contact us for more information! 

Does this count against my monthly volume allocations? Are there limits?

Running Echo searches does not count against your monthly volumes. There are some limits to how many Echo queries you can run in a day, depending on your Echo plan. Starting a Tracker or creating a historical report from an Echo search does count towards your account's monthly post volume allotment. 

In what time zone does Echo display?

Whatever time zone your browser is set to. You should see the time zone displayed below the metrics table. 

What are Notable Tweets?

Notable tweets are a set of interesting tweets that show you what people are talking about at that time. Our algorithm surfaces the most important tweets from the time period based on a set of factors, including the number of retweets, how many followers an account has, whether an account is verified and more.

Can I share this with other people?

Feel free to share screenshots or PDFs. You can also share the URL (with or without search queries) with anyone who has access to your Union Metrics account.

Can I isolate a specific date range?

You can adjust the brush in the top graph to cover any date range in the past 30 days, then drag the brush to move that date range across the whole chart. You can pan and zoom on that top graph to update the data displayed in the main focus graph.

How accurate is this data?

Union Metrics Echo is built on data coming straight from Gnip/Twitter and is full-fidelity. Depending on your exact query, tweet counts may vary by a few tweets because of velocity, tweet deletions or spam.

Where does Union Metrics get this data?

This data comes directly from Gnip/Twitter's Full Archive Search API, which provides instant access to the Twitter archive. It's commercially licensed and full-fidelity, and includes data on tweets from March 2006 to right now.

Is there a delay in when new tweets show up?

The Twitter archive is updated in real time. Technically, the archive adds new tweets every 30 or 45 seconds or so, so if you add new terms or refresh your Echo page, you'll get new tweets from the past few minutes right away, in almost instantaneous real time.

What data is available?

All tweets and tweet volume counts dating back to the very first tweets posted in March 2006. We offer three Echo levels, all of which are available to subscribers to the Union Metrics Social Suite. By default, all suite subscribers have access to Echo 30, which includes data from the past 30 days. You can also upgrade to Echo 365, which includes tweets from the past year, or Echo Full Archive, which includes all tweets in the archive, going back to 2006. Contact us if you'd like to upgrade!

How do I access Echo? 

Echo is only available in the Union Metrics Social Suite. You can access it in your account at https://subdomain.unionmetrics.com/echo.

How can I get more Echo? 

To upgrade your account, just contact your customer success manager. You can also email us any time at support@unionmetrics.com

We have three Echo plan levels. All suite plans automatically include access to Echo 30, and you can upgrade at any time to Echo 365 or Echo Full Archive. Here's the breakdown of what's included at each Echo plan level. 

If you're an existing suite subscriber, you can log into your Union Metrics Social Suite account here. If you're interested in learning more about our suite, contact us

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