Twing is a fairly new service that allows users to search the world of online communities and forums via a dedicated forum focused search engine.
Twing states that their intent is to enable users “to quickly find highly relevant communities and discussions pertaining to your interests, as well as keep you informed on the latest trends influencing communities.” Twing members can track activity on their favorite forums and stay informed on updates via custom alerts.
Out of the box Twing works surprisingly well. Unlike some others in this space they’ve taken the algorithm route (as opposed to hand picked results) which would usually leads to spam, but Twing some how manages to deliver clean and relevant results. The only negative I can think is to ask whether Twing really is sustainable as a standalone service; it’s neat and works well, but will users seek out a dedicated forum search engine when not even blogging could really sustain most of the blog dedicated search engines over the last 5 years? Perhaps instead it’s being built for a Google exit. Time will tell, but what ever the aim it’s worth a look.