10. A computer implemented method comprising: searching, based in part on a term identifier associated with a term, a first portion of a user-term index comprising time-ordered database shards of records for post identifiers of posts that include the term and that are associated with connections of a user, where the user-term index comprises shards of records that are searched from newest to oldest, the searching comprising: matching the term identifier to corresponding term identifiers in shards of records within the selected portion, the selected portion including user identifiers associated with connections of the user, and wherein the matching identifies post identifiers for posts that include the term and are associated with a connection of the user; and retrieving posts from an index using the identified post identifiers, the retrieved posts for presentation to the user.
10. A computer implemented method comprising: searching, based in part on a term identifier associated with a term, a first portion of a user-term index comprising time-ordered database shards of records for post identifiers of posts that include the term and that are associated with connections of a user, where the user-term index comprises shards of records that are searched from newest to oldest, the searching comprising: matching the term identifier to corresponding term identifiers in shards of records within the selected portion, the selected portion including user identifiers associated with connections of the user, and wherein the matching identifies post identifiers for posts that include the term and are associated with a connection of the user; and retrieving posts from an index using the identified post identifiers, the retrieved posts for presentation to the user. 11. The computer implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising: response to not reaching a threshold number of retrieved posts, searching, based in part on the term identifier, a second portion of the user-term index that comprises shards of records that are older than those in the first portion, and the shards of records in the second portion of the user-term index are searched from newest to oldest.