Search

Locating particular content or information on a social media platform is what's meant by 'search,' in the social media context. It's a pretty straightforward concept from the user experience perspective, typically involving a designated search bar where you can input a word, phrase, or even an emoji to retrieve a certain degree of specificity among an ocean of not-very-personalized posts. But from a backend systems perspective, search is actually a complicated mechanism, often involving multiple algorithms and layers of filters and even different forms of artificial intelligence.

Why is it complicated? Because the apparatus needs to ensure that any content a user would logically expect to find is not only retrievable but also ranks highly in terms of relevance. In another sense, search is a sort of mechanism for public intimacy, for finding not just old posts but also new posts happening in real time.

It’s how we locate friends, acquaintances, and even strangers on the platforms, and it’s a mostly undiscovered aspect of why we’re so drawn to participating in the platforms in the first place.