In Topsy (free), you can search both hashtags (example: "#winning") in tweets or any phrase that you'd like to observe (example: "welfare reform"). What's especially interesting is when you start doing comparisons. If you visit the site, click on "Social Analytics" at the top of the homepage and observe the graph (seen below). This graph compares the activity of the words "ipad", "kindle", or "galaxy nexus" over the specificed time.
In Topsy Pro, you can manage different hashtags and phrases on the same dashboard by selecting/deselecting check boxes. This allows you to compare a very large amount of phrases and hashtags all in one place. You can also select which social media sites you want to apply your search to. Topsy Pro isn't limited only to twitter, you can search Flickr, Facebook, Tumblr, and several others.
Lastly, one of the greatest features of Topsy Pro is the "related words" feature. After a user enters an input value (hastag or phrase), the user can select a tab on the dashboard that reveals a tile GUI with other, related hashtags and phrases that are associated with the inputs. This is a tremendous tool because it allows a company to view not only what words are associated with their brand, but the words and phrases that are gathering significant momentum.
This tool has a wide variety of other features, but these are some of the most significant that I thought I should mention. Get a free subscription and try it out.
I used Topsy Pro until my subscription ran out (which is why I don't have any other screen captures to post). I applied the tool to the SGA elections to see who was trending each day. I'm going to post a tutorial using that as an example in the near future.
