Tweetfind (beta) does same thing, but for Twitter, and tries to return results based on rank, hopefully returning more relevant results and users on top.
The Rank is calculated through several parameters. Creator of Tweefind, luca Filigheddu, lists them:
# followers
# following
# of tweets
# of RT he/she receives
# of replies
# of distinct users who reply
# of distinct users who retweet
# of RT he/she makes
# of links the user shares
It doesn't work too great for now, but it's still in beta so I expect a lot more tweaking to be done.
This approach raises some interesting questions. Are Twitter users with more followers, tweets, replies or retweets more relevant in the context of real time one-to-many conversations? Is there really a “rank” on Twitter that can be calculated and be useful in real world usage? Could an approach similar to Google’s PR algorithm do the same for Twitter search as it did for Google?
[via mashable]
