Making an information retrieval process public, so that it can be followed by others, allows capturing of an interest graph that allows people to learn more about shared interests with other people. This also allows items of interest to a trusted resource (such as an expert) to be identified. These items can then be brought to the attention of other users that share the same interest as the expert. In addition, by keeping track of what particular content a user has already seen, the system can bring items of interest to the user's attention, where the user has not yet seen those items.