A system and method are presented for detecting messages relevant to users in a collaborative environment. In a unified collaboration system, large volumes of messages between a plurality of users in a group may be monitored for relevance to a particular user. Analytics may be applied to the content of the messages to determine which of the plurality of users are relevant and should be alerted. Alerts may notify relevant users that there are messages which may require attention. Non-relevant information in messages may also be hidden or filtered for a user. In an embodiment, users and subject matters may be linked together. For example, words in a message may be related to specific sub-topics of a group and may be associated with a user over time based on when the word is used and which users respond.