First off, I've been really impressed to see how the team has been handling everything. Staying on top of performance and shipping features - it's impressive, though I can't say I'm surprised. It's pretty cool to see how much a small but mighty team can accomplish.
As requested, here's a brief rundown of how I think X search could be improved. This includes short-term, low-hanging fruit that I believe people would genuinely appreciate, as well as longer-term, next-level features related to search that could help with sense-making and surfacing what's relevant.
If you have any questions about what you're seeing, don't hesitate to reach out to me on X at @GarySheng.
- A) LOW HANGING FRUIT FIXES
- A1: Add “From myself” to the Simple Search Filters
- A2: Searching Your Bookmarks
- A3: Searching Tweets tweeted by people within a particular X List
- A4: Searching Tweets tweeted by people within a particular X List
- A5: Searching your likes
- B) NEXT LEVEL FEATURES RELATED TO SEARCH
- 2024-03-15 ADDENDUM: VISION FOR X’S SEARCH
A) LOW HANGING FRUIT FIXES
A1: Add “From myself” to the Simple Search Filters
X currently allows for easy selection and searching of tweets from anyone or those you follow. This feature can be really beneficial, and it would be even more so if it allowed users to search through their own tweets. I often use X as a way to share knowledge, tips, and insights. It would be convenient to easily reference what I wrote in the past. This would be useful if someone has a question that I've already answered on X, as opposed to platforms like Substack, making it easier to locate.
A2: Searching Your Bookmarks
Another thing that should be added is the ability to search your bookmarks. People create bookmarks so that they can reference them later. If someone has hundreds of bookmarks, because X is full of interesting insights and so forth, they should be able to easily find what they need.
X makes it easy to search your bookmarks. This way, you don't have to scroll aimlessly and tediously while trying to find a particular bookmark.
I should not have to install a Chrome extension just to search my bookmarks.
A3: Searching Tweets tweeted by people within a particular X List
People use lists on X to curate individuals they find interesting and who fit into specific categories, such as a particular scene or industry. It would be beneficial to be able to search only within these curated lists. For instance, I might want to see discussions about AI, but only from those on a specific list, rather than from everyone I follow or anyone on X.
A4: Searching Tweets tweeted by people within a particular X List
Finding accounts should be considerably easier. Specifically, accessing the X accounts of people one already follows should be prioritized in search results - in my opinion, they should be heavily weighted to appear at the top of a default search. There are countless instances where I have struggled to locate someone I'm already following.
Let's consider one example. A colleague of mine, Jeremy, has an account I've had difficulty finding despite typing in part of his X handle and his name. The process should be more straightforward, especially for accounts that I follow.
In essence, following someone should provide high context, indicating my interest in that person. Therefore, they should appear near the top of search results.
A5: Searching your likes
You should be able to search your likes. Likes for many people function like bookmarks. (On a separate note, it would be nice to be able to hide your likes).
B) NEXT LEVEL FEATURES RELATED TO SEARCH
In section A, I went over some pretty obvious opportunities for X’s team related to search optimization. But now, let's dive into some next-level features associated with search that could really elevate the platform to an entirely new level.
When I use X, my aim is to understand what the world deems important. I also want to grasp what specific niches, represented by X lists or X communities, regard as significant. Wouldn't it be fantastic if X could highlight trends based on what various lists are discussing? This could include your entire follower list, synthesizing what's trending in terms of keywords and concepts.
I think it'd be great to have the ability to answer questions like:
- Which of the people I'm following have gained the most followers over the past month, as a percentage of their existing base? And why is that?
- Among my friends who discuss AI, what specific aspects of AI are they mostly talking about?
With the advent of large language models, search on X should be extremely conversational. I should be able to make interesting queries related to my tweets, bookmarks, lists, followers, and the people I follow. For example:
- Who that I follow are interested in land stewardship?
- Who that I follow who live in LA are interested in NFTs and regen culture?
- What are my top performing tweets related to ‘regen’?
- Who are ten people I should follow who are rising influencers related to the topic of ‘regen’?
- What are patterns in my top performing content over the past 6 months?
Over time, X should be capable of automatically surfacing the insights I'm interested in.
So, imagine a X tab or section that's all about keeping me informed. Ideally, I shouldn't have to comb through countless individual tweets to understand what my network and the people I care about are discussing. I want to know what's on their minds, what they deem important, and who is becoming increasingly influential in my network.
Expanding beyond my own network, X should indicate who's trending most among people discussing AI on the platform. Even better, X could provide insights on why they're trending. But, if that seems a bit ambitious, simply providing a list of trending individuals would be a great start.
X can and should be the place where you discover relevance - who's relevant, and what's relevant.
2024-03-15 ADDENDUM: VISION FOR X’S SEARCH
Imagine if X search was actually top-notch. What I mean is, when you're looking to tag someone, it should be effortless to find the right person. This ease should come from understanding the context of your tweet, your recent interactions, your social network, and recognizing that not everyone can spell names perfectly, even when they sound similar.
Now, think about effortlessly typing in prompts like, 'Hey Grok, show me my top 10 tweets from the last month about network states.' The system should smartly fetch these without relying on just keyword searches.
Envision being able to identify friends who've engaged the most with your biotech tweets. It's not just about minor tweaks; this is about making significant improvements. Tagging a friend in a tweet should be a breeze, not a source of daily frustration like it is now.
There are standout moments that the Grok team should aim for—those magical experiences when finding any tweet, especially from your own history, is just a piece of cake. Currently, there are too many issues to list regarding how search could be better. I'm sharing these thoughts as a nudge towards what could be a much-improved search experience.