Google helps sleuth out Twitter accounts
Search giant's Follow Finder helps expand your Twitter network by suggesting people to follow based on your profile.
Looking for more folks to follow on Twitter? Google may be able to help.
The search giant unveiled on Wednesday a new feature dubbed Follow Finder, according to its blog. Revealed at Twitter's Chirp developers conference this week, Follow Finder tries to uncover more Twitter accounts, or tweeps, that you may want to follow based on the ones you have already accumulated.
To use the service, enter your Twitter username at the Follow Finder page. Google then looks at the people you already follow, finds other accounts who follow the same or similar people as you, and then conjures up a list of new people to add to your network. Google breaks down the list into two categories: accounts followed by people who follow the same ones you do and the accounts of people with similar follower lists.
If you see an account you want to follow, click on the name to open Twitter, log in, and add that account to your network.
I tried the Follow Finder by entering my own Twitter username, lancewhit. Based on the people I already follow, Google came up with a list of techies, journalists, and several CNET reporters whom I may want to add to my Twitter network. The only flaw I discovered is that Google included several accounts that I already follow, even though it's supposed to weed them out. However, I did find a variety of new people worth following.
You can also type in accounts other than your own to see whom Google recommends for others. I typed billgates into Follow Finder, and Google's suggestions included the Twitter accounts of Microsoft, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Unicef, and the Red Cross.
