Twitter is so big that spin-off enterprises are sprouting up everywhere. One type of site that uses Twitter popularity to thrive is the Twitter Search site. These kinds of sites offer you ways to look up Twitter users that you know or would like to know.

Official Twitter Applications

Twitter’s People Search application is built into the website and is the easiest way to find people on Twitter. The search function has limitations, though, because it only searches the actual names of users, rather than the user IDs. That is why other applications are useful. Twitter also offers an application called Mr. Tweet. This can also be installed as a Firefox plugin. This search feature letters you recommend Tweeters, offering helpful statistics as well. 

Connecting by Interests

Twubble is another way to recommend Tweeters to others, like Mr. Tweet. This site creates a web of users, connected by interests. You must already have your own following to add to the site in order to use it. Another search site, Twitterel, searches tweets by keyword. This allows you to set up alerts when it finds Tweeters that might interest you. 

Tweepz is a site that lets you search types of extracted information that Twitter People Search does not. You can search through information in bios, number of followers, location and anything else that might help you find your Tweeps. TweepSearch is a similar website, but it may not have as much information as Tweepz. TwitDir is best for finding the top Tweeters. It will tell you who tweets the most and who is the most popular.

User Entries

WeFollow was made by Digg, a popular social bookmarking site. Digg organizes Tweeters by hash tags. Anyone can add an entry to the directory by tweeting @wefollow and adding three hash tags for description that will be attached to the Twitter ID. Just Tweet It is also based on user entries. It is best for locating people of similar interests, but may not be as organized as other tweet directories. 

Finding Local Tweeters

Twellow is great for finding Tweeps with similar interests. Twellow organizes by category, letting you search all profiles or just ones you target by niche. The site also has a local search called Twellowhood letting you find Tweeps near you. Who Should i Follow? is a site where you enter your Twitter ID and the service searches for other users similar to those you are following. You can then filter results by popularity or location.

All these options offer a little something different for Twitter searches. Which site is best for your searches will depend on the type of Tweeters you are after.