How to Find People to Follow on X by Keyword

Back in the early days of Twitter, apps would watch for your keywords and follow everyone who used them. That approach is now against X's rules, and it never worked as well as people hoped: you ended up following hundreds of accounts you'd never read. The manual version takes a few minutes a day and gives you a timeline worth opening.

Here's how we find people by keyword, step by step. Our daily planner builds these searches for you once you add your niche keywords.

Step 1: pick keywords people actually use

Start with the words people in your niche use in their own posts and bios, which aren't always the words you'd use to describe it. A bakery owner might think "artisan bread," while home bakers write "sourdough," "crumb shot" and "starter."

A good set has:

• One or two broad terms for the topic ("sourdough").
• One or two specific terms that only insiders use ("levain", "crumb shot").
• A job title or identity word for bio searches ("baker", "pastry chef").

Avoid terms that collide with other meanings, or add an exclusion to cut the noise later.

Step 2: search people, not just posts

On X, search for your identity word and switch to the People tab (on the web, that's f=user in the search address). This matches names, handles and bios, so it surfaces accounts that describe themselves the way you're looking for: "home baker," "React developer," "climbing coach."

The People tab is good for finding established voices. It's weaker for finding active people, because a bio can be years old. That's what the next step is for.

Step 3: search posts on the Latest tab

Search your topic keywords on the Latest tab to see who's posting about them right now. A few operators make this much more useful:

(sourdough OR levain) -filter:replies -filter:links lang:en

That shows original posts, not replies, without links (which removes most news shares and promotions), in English.

To find people asking for help, a sign of an engaged and reachable account:

sourdough (how OR why OR "any tips" OR "anyone know") lang:en

To find smaller accounts, who are far more likely to notice you and reply:

sourdough -min_faves:20 -filter:replies lang:en

The -min_faves:20 part leaves out posts with 20 or more likes, which filters out viral posts and big accounts.

Step 4: look at who's in the replies

The replies under a good post in your niche are full of the right people. Open a post from someone respected in your area and read the replies. The people leaving thoughtful replies are often the most active members of that community, and they're usually happy to talk.

Do the same with quote posts. Search for the post's link, or look at the quotes tab on the post, to see who's adding commentary.

Step 5: borrow other people's lists

Many active users keep public lists, such as "Bakers," "Climbing," or "Frontend people." Open the profile of someone central to your niche, go to their lists, and look for one that matches what you need. You can follow a list or just browse its members.

This is different from copying someone's followers, which X's platform manipulation policy prohibits when done in bulk. Browsing a curated list and choosing a few people to follow, one by one, is normal use.

Step 6: check before you follow

Spend a minute on each profile before following. We look at four things:

1. Recent posts. Are they active in the last couple of weeks, and are the posts about the topic you care about?
2. Replies tab. Do they talk with people, or only broadcast? People who reply are people who'll reply to you.
3. Tone. Would you be glad to see their posts in your timeline every day?
4. Signs of automation. Hundreds of near-identical posts, a follower count that jumped overnight, or replies that don't match the post they answer.

If it's a yes, follow. If it's a maybe, add them to a private list instead and decide later. Private lists aren't visible to others, and people aren't notified when you add them.

Step 7: follow, then show up

A follow on its own is easy to miss. What gets noticed is a good reply. After following someone, look for a recent post where you can add something: a related experience, a useful detail, a genuine question. Don't reply to everything they post on day one; one thoughtful reply that week is plenty.

Keep the numbers small

X sets technical limits on following: 400 accounts a day, and after you follow 5,000 accounts, extra limits based on your own follower ratio. Those are ceilings for edge cases, not a target. Following dozens of unrelated accounts in a short burst is exactly the indiscriminate pattern X's rules prohibit, and it fills your timeline with noise. Three to ten good follows a day, plus replies, is a strong routine. Our guide to follow and unfollow etiquette goes into the limits in more detail.

Save the searches

Once a search turns up good people, save it on X (from the menu next to the search box) so tomorrow it's one tap away. Two or three saved searches per niche keyword set are usually enough. Rotate through them over the week rather than running all of them every day.

My Twitter Butler is independent and not affiliated with X Corp.

Questions

How many people should I follow per day when starting out?

A handful. Three to ten well-chosen accounts a day is plenty for a personal or small business account. The goal is a timeline full of people you want to talk to, not a big following count.

Does X's people search use bios or posts?

The People tab matches names, handles and bios, so it's best for finding accounts that describe themselves with your keyword. To find people who post about a topic, search posts on the Latest tab and look at who's writing them.