There’s Nothing Turvy About Topsy!
A Twitter based search engine worth using!
Twitter has emerged as one of the most powerful social media tools available. Founded in 2006, this micro-blogging site has revolutionized the way people interact online, through 140 character snippets where they can share a message, promote a product, proclaim news, etc. WordJourney is one of three Twitter accounts I manage, allowing me to connect with like-minded people as we advance the Good News.
Twitter Is Useful & Faulty
But Twitter is just as faulty as it is useful. Its plain interface has seen some improvements of late, but it is the supplemental “Twitter tools” 
developed by third parties which truly extends its usefulness. Had these tools not been developed, Twitter probably would have died shortly after its launch.
I wrote about Twitter Search on my Matt’s Musings blog back in January, singing its praises as a wonderful way to search for tweets apart from the nasty Twitter interface. I’ve used it several times, but it hasn’t been my favorite way to perform a Twitter search. Instead, I have been spending plenty of time over at Topsy.com which describes itself as a search engine powered by tweets. Yes, if you are a Twitter user, then Topsy just may be the site for you.
The Topsy Approach To Search
Topsy takes a different approach to web search unlike Yahoo Search, Google, Bing and similar sites. Instead of searching for specific files or documents, Topsy categorizes conversations, using Twitter as its focal point.
For example, if you were to type in the words “Christmas carols” you would find portions of conversations about that topic. The results delivered by Topsy are those things Twitter folks link to, when they’re speaking about your search terms. As Topsy says, the search engine “…ranks results based on how well they match your search terms, and the influence of the people talking about them.”
Topsy’s results are in real time as they are based on current conversations. In addition, you can find out what was talked about over the past week or month, extending back to when the service was first launched this past May. What’s more, every Twitter user has a Topsy page where all of your Tweets can be seen together.
First Seen Through Trackbacks
I first noticed Topsy about a month ago when my blog trackbacks included record of tweets people had been making about this article or that one. I decided to save each trackback in order to gauge just how well Topsy worked. Definitely, Topsy has been sending a trickle of traffic my way while giving me an accurate indication of the number of people who retweeted my articles.
Topsy does rank people by influence, meaning the more you retweet, the less influence that you have. But, when people retweet you, you gain some influence. Check out your particular articles and you’ll see that at least one person who tweeted was probably an “influencer” — a Twitter user that Topsy holds in high regard.
You’ve probably found me on Twitter through wordjourney or perhaps via theautowriter or mattkeegan. Regardless, I’m actively tweeting this or that offering a good share of retweets too as I relay news about the persecuted church or some other sort of Christian endeavor. Topsy is a useful tool because it pulls everything together for me, offering accurate search results listing Twitter conversations.
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