tweet-utils-js

tweet-utils-js is a JavaScript library of functions for working with tweets in JSON format returned by the Twitter API.

Installation

npm install tweet-utils-js

Use

var TweetUtils = require('tweet-utils-js');

var aTweet = ...; // A JSON-format object retrieved from the Twitter API

// Geocoding
var geoCoding = TweetUtils.extractGeocoding(aTweet);

// User Mentions
var userMentions = TweetUtils.extractUserMentions(aTweet);

// Hashtags
var hashtags = TweetUtils.extractHashtags(aTweet);

// URLs
var urls = TweetUtils.extractURLs(aTweet);

// Retweets
if (TweetUtils.isRetweet(aTweet)) {
  // do something with the retweet
}

API

extractGeocoding(tweet)

Returns the geocoded location in a tweet as an object with latitude and longitude keys, or null if the tweet is null or does not contain a geocoded location. This function returns an object with keys that explicitly label the latitude and longitude values to avoid the confusing and error-prone use of two-element arrays. Example output:

{
  longitude: 51.500152,
  latitude: -0.126236
}

extractUserMentions(tweet)

Returns an array of the Twitter-user screen names mentioned in a tweet (without the @ prefix). The array will be empty if the tweet is null or does not mention any Twitter users. For example, the output for the tweet:

@BBCNews and @CNN are reporting the story live.

would be:

['BBCNews', 'CNN']

extractHashtags(tweet)

Returns an array of the hashtags used in the text of a tweet (without the # prefix). The array will be empty if the tweet is null or does not contain any hashtags. For example, the output for the tweet:

It's great to #opensource your #nodejs code!

would be:

['opensource', 'nodejs']

extractURLs(tweet)

Returns an array of the URLs used in the text of a tweet. The array will be empty if the tweet is null or does not contain any URLs. For example, the output for the tweet:

Learn about NodeJS and npm at https://nodejs.org/ and https://www.npmjs.com/

would be:

['https://nodejs.org/', 'https://www.npmjs.com/']

The extractURLs function returns the full-length, expanded form of the URL when it is available; otherwise the default form is returned, which will often be a shortened URL.

isRetweet(tweet)

Returns true if the tweet is a retweet. A tweet is retweeted when users press the retweet button of a Twitter user interface or when they prefix the tweet text with "RT" or "RT:". For example, the output for the following tweets would be true:

RT @BBCNews and @CNN are reporting the story live.

RT: @BBCNews and @CNN are reporting the story live.

In constrast, the output for the following tweet would be false:

@BBCNews and @CNN are reporting the story live.