Frequently Asked Questions

We know you have questions. Here are some we’ve anticipated. If you don’t see an answer to yours, click the Feedback tab on the side of the page and ask away. We promise to get back to you as soon as we can. We may even add your question to the FAQ list.

What is TPS?

TPS, or the Tweet Positioning System, is a geo-location filter for conversations and mentions on Twitter. The tool not only helps you find people talking about you, your company, or the topic you’re most interested in, it locates those individuals on a map and lets you filter out the conversation by location.

How does it work?

We take your search term, pull the Tweets containing it, and then map them based on the geographic location listed in the Twitter user’s account META data. This information is mined through the Twitter API or application programming interface. We are a Twitter and Twitter Search white listed API user.

Why do some of the locations look strange?

TPS uses the location each Twitter user puts in their Twitter Bio. Some people enter things like, “Philadelphia,” which is easy to map. Other people say things like “The World” or “In an airplane,” which is much harder to map. So Google Maps does the best it can, and we get to live with a little extra quirkiness.

What do you do with my information?

We use the OAuth method to connect your Twitter account with TPS. This secure protocol allows you to control whether or not TPS has access to your Twitter account data. It is used to enable you to Tweet, reply, re-tweet and favorite specific Tweets within TPS. It also allows you to follow or unfollow people you find within the tool with one click. We do not access your account information for other uses or store information from your twitter account once you leave the site.

When you save a TPS search, the Tweets go into our database. The searches are updated each time you access them. We do anonymize and analyze search data to produce our popular, rising and falling search lists, but do not mine your saved searches for other information.

We respect your privacy and your data. If you have more specific questions about how we use information or access your Twitter account, please click the Feedback tab and ask us!

How much does it cost?

TPS is free to use and share with friends … lots of them if you like.

Who should use it?

Who and how you use TPS is up to you. We think brands, businesses and organizations will find it useful to filter Twitter conversations down to locations because it can give them insights as to what people in specific markets are saying about them. Small businesses, or those with a local footprint, can filter out the rest of the Twitter noise and see what people in their specific market are saying about them or their industry.

Bloggers can use it to learn more about how people in specific locations are talking about using specific products or services they’re blogging about, or, if they are a more localized blogger, they can get a nice view of the local conversations around a specific topic.

And any one can use it to find people in your town or area that talk about topics of interest to you. If you like the Pittsburgh Steelers but live in Louisville, Kentucky, you can find people Tweeting about the Steelers who happen to live in Louisville. Congratulations. You’ve found someone to watch them beat the Lions with.

Are the results real time?

The actual tweets appear in real time. The metadata around those Tweets, like the number of followers the user has, takes a few extra seconds to load.

How do I reply, re-tweet, favorite a Tweet or follow a Tweeter I find?

When the tweet stream appears on the right hand side of your search results page, you should see the author’s avatar. Hover over it to see the four buttons.

How do I filter searches?

Searches can be filtered three different ways. You can click on the conversation hot spot on the map to filter the search by that location. You can also filter by keyword, user or region by using the “Filter Results By” dropdown box in the upper right corner of your main search results page. You can also click on the “Analyze Related Words” tab underneath the map on the search results page and click on related keywords to filter your main search and see results that feature the keyword in question.

How do I filter the graphs?

Ask Mathias, @mathiask on twitter.

How do I navigate the map?

The TPS map uses Google Maps technology and operates similarly. You can click and drag the map view to the area you’d like to see. You can zoom in or out by double-clicking, hovering over the map and using a scroll ball or wheel on your mouse or by clicking/click-dragging the zoom scale on the side of the map.

Hovering over a conversation hot spot on the map will display the number of Tweets in that hot spot and a list of related terms relative to the search in that location.

What is Crumple It Up?

CrumpleItUp.com is the website and blog of the Humana’s innovation center. The innovation center is focused on developing products, programs and services that promote better health and happiness for consumers.

In plain English, we create fun products that help people to be more healthy. To find out more about what we’re up to, visit our site at blog at CrumpleItUp.com.

Why is Humana developing a Twitter tool?

Part of our innovation center staff is focused on understanding and empowering communities around health and wellness. So we play in the social media space to try and better understand online communities and conversations around the topic. We’re just as addicted to Twitter as a lot of other people are and started thinking of ways to use it to benefit Humana.

We developed TPS to help inform our new product development, event management, customer service and sales and marketing teams about local conversations around certain topics. Turns out the tool might be useful for people besides us so we figured we would share.

Where can I get a cover sheet for my TPS report?

Umm … you’re on your own on that one.