QuertweetThe X search cookbook

Chapter 10 · 6 recipes

Content ideas: X search recipes

Posts in your niche that drew big likes, long threads, popular videos and the debates people love to reply to.

Chapter notes

If you write for X, the fastest research is to look at what already worked in your niche. These recipes use engagement thresholds to find it: min_faves: for likes, min_replies: for replies. X still uses the old operator names even though the buttons changed, and counts above a few thousand are rounded, so treat the numbers as rough cutoffs.

Use the Top tab here. You are looking for proven posts, not new ones, and Top ranks by engagement. Raise the threshold for a big niche and lower it for a small one: 500 likes is a lot in beekeeping and very little in sports.

Study the format, never copy the words. Note how the opening line is built, whether the post is a list or a story, how long it is and what it asks the reader to do. Then write your own version from your own experience.

The recipes

10.1

Top posts in your niche

Original posts that cleared 500 likes. Lower the number for small niches.

Fill in

"personal finance" min_faves:500 -filter:replies lang:en
Open on X (Top)
What each part does
"[niche]"
Your your niche, in quotes so a multi-word value is matched as one phrase.
min_faves:500
At least 500 likes. The operator keeps Twitter's old name for likes. Large counts are approximate.
-filter:replies
Removes replies.
lang:en
Posts X detected as English. Detection on very short posts can be wrong.
10.2

Popular threads

Thread openers. Study the first line: it's the part that earned the clicks.

Fill in

"personal finance" ("🧵" OR thread OR "a thread") min_faves:100 -filter:replies
Open on X (Top)
What each part does
"[niche]"
Your your niche, in quotes so a multi-word value is matched as one phrase.
("🧵" OR thread OR "a thread")
Any one of these is enough: "🧵", thread, "a thread". OR has to be written in capitals.
min_faves:100
At least 100 likes. The operator keeps Twitter's old name for likes. Large counts are approximate.
-filter:replies
Removes replies.
10.3

Videos that did well

Native video posts above a like threshold.

Fill in

"personal finance" filter:videos min_faves:200
Open on X (Top)
What each part does
"[niche]"
Your your niche, in quotes so a multi-word value is matched as one phrase.
filter:videos
Keeps only posts with a video.
min_faves:200
At least 200 likes. The operator keeps Twitter's old name for likes. Large counts are approximate.
10.4

Debates people reply to

Opinions that pulled replies. Find the argument, then write the post that settles it.

Fill in

"personal finance" ("unpopular opinion" OR "hot take") min_replies:30
Open on X (Top)
What each part does
"[niche]"
Your your niche, in quotes so a multi-word value is matched as one phrase.
("unpopular opinion" OR "hot take")
Any one of these is enough: "unpopular opinion", "hot take". OR has to be written in capitals.
min_replies:30
At least 30 replies. Large counts are approximate.
10.5

Recent winners only

Same idea as the first recipe, limited to the last month so the formats are current.

Fill in

"personal finance" (tips OR mistakes OR lessons) min_faves:300 since:YYYY-MM-DD
Open on X (Top)
What each part does
"[niche]"
Your your niche, in quotes so a multi-word value is matched as one phrase.
(tips OR mistakes OR lessons)
Any one of these is enough: tips, mistakes, lessons. OR has to be written in capitals.
min_faves:300
At least 300 likes. The operator keeps Twitter's old name for likes. Large counts are approximate.
since:[date]
Posts from this date onward (the date itself is included).
10.6

What the people you follow share

filter:follows limits results to accounts you follow. Your own reading list, searchable.

Fill in

"personal finance" filter:follows filter:links
Open on X (Latest)
What each part does
"[niche]"
Your your niche, in quotes so a multi-word value is matched as one phrase.
filter:follows
Keeps only posts from accounts you follow.
filter:links
Keeps only posts that contain a link.

More chapters

  1. 1 Job posts
  2. 2 Leads asking for recommendations
  3. 3 Customer complaints
  4. 4 Local events
  5. 5 Giveaways and contests
  6. 6 Research quotes
  7. 7 News from verified sources
  8. 8 Questions in your niche
  9. 9 Brand mentions and feedback
  10. 11 Tutorials and resources

New to the operators? Read X search operators, explained. All 71 recipes are also on the home page, where you can filter them and save favorites.