the next of Twitter could be a function that will allow you subscribe to the results of the searches you carry out within the social network, so that you receive notifications every time new tweets are published with the keywords you choose. This option is already under development under the name Search Subscribealthough it is not yet known if it will really reach all users.
This peculiar feature has recently been discovered by developer Dylan Roussel, who shared some screenshots On twitter. From what can be seen in the images, it appears in the search section of the app and is identified by a bell icon to the right of the search engine. Thus, when entering what we want to find and clicking on said option, we will be notified of new publications that include the chosen terms.
It is worth clarifying, however, that it is not yet functional. Roussel found it in the Alpha version of Twitter and was only able to forcibly activate it, albeit with mixed results. Although she indicated that she was able to set up a subscription to a certain search result, she never received the relevant notifications.
And it is not strange that this happens, since it is not yet known if Search Subscribe is a merely experimental function or if it has a future among the general public. If we have seen anything in recent years, it is that Twitter tends to test some features with a small number of users, or on certain operating systems, before deciding whether to finally go ahead or not. Therefore, we may have to wait a long time before seeing this new tool in action.
Do we really need more notifications on Twitter?
Clearly, this is the big question we ask ourselves when we see what this new feature is all about. The answer will depend on the use that each user gives to the social network, how customizable this new option is and how specific are the search terms to which one wants to subscribe. After all, what Twitter is proposing here is nothing more than your own version of Google Alerts. With all the good and all the bad that this implies.
From the little that has been seen so far, and taking into account that there is no official information on the matter, we can imagine that the platform wants to offer a way to more intensively monitor topics that are trending, or that have the potential to be. Although many people may find it useful to pursue more niche topics and not necessarily being tweeted about en masse.
Of course, the idea of receiving notifications push before each new tweet that is attached to a search result it is still a bit scary. It remains to be seen if Twitter really intends to tackle them individually or if it combines multiple search results in the same notification to avoid overload. But we go back to what we said before, we are talking about a function whose final destination is not assured; so that we could not even see it in action, especially with the changes that the company is implementing in its product development strategy.