Twitter‘s new advanced search filters help users find COVID resources faster

Twitter India has rolled out a few new advanced search features that are targeted at people trying to look for medical resources via social media platform across the country. With the second wave of Covid-related cases on the rise in many Indian states, people have been turning to platforms like Twitter and Instagram to look for and share the availability of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, and drugs like Remdesivir.

All across the country, people are using Twitter to find the latest information and access to resources right now. As this people’s movement unfolds, we wanted to remind you of some of the features that could help you find what you’re looking for faster #Covid19IndiaHelp 🧵

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) April 23, 2021

Twitter’s new advanced search helps users filter out tweets according to the resources they are looking for. “All across the country, people are using Twitter to find the latest information and access to resources right now. As this people’s movement unfolds, we wanted to remind you of some of the features that could help you find what you’re looking for faster,” Twitter India said in a post.

If you’d like to see Tweets that are close to your current location, type in a relevant hashtag in the search bar, tap the toggle button on the top right, and turn on ‘Near you’ under ‘Location’. You’ll have to turn on location settings for this to work. pic.twitter.com/BwQENGjduw

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) April 23, 2021

The new features allow users to also see tweets closer to their current location to get more timely help.  A toggle button on the right of the search bar should help users turn on the ‘Near You’ button under location. Users must keep their location turned on for this to work.

Twitter users can also make sure the most recent tweets are at the top of their timeline by tapping the sparkle button on the top right of their home timeline. Check out the tweet below.

You can also make sure the most recent Tweets are at the top of your timeline by tapping the ‘sparkle’ button on the top right of your home timeline. pic.twitter.com/FyUKEfoavB

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) April 23, 2021

While the new features will help users get to more relevant information quicker, users have been also asking the platform to implement a marking feature that will allow users to mark a tweet when the resources mentioned in it have been depleted. This would allow users to save time by not contacting leads that have already expired or run out of stock. It remains to be seen if such an implementation will be added to the platform.