Facebook Introduces Graph Search
There was a lot of speculation regarding Facebook’s “Big Announcement.” Many believed we would see an attempt at some form of Facebook hardware such as a phone or tablet, but Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg introduced something that the world’s largest social networking site has been missing.
Introducing Graph Search
Unlike other search engines, which Zuckerberg denies graph search to be, the new Facebook feature allows users to create unique searches based on their friends and connections. If you search “Friends who like The Walking Dead,” you will get a complete list of all your connections who “like” The Walking Dead. Say you want to have a watch party for the February premier. You can search “Friends who live in my city who like The Walking Dead,” then send watch party invitations to the appropriate contacts.
Certain questions were raised regarding users’ privacy, but the Facebook team claims that “you can look up anything shared with you on Facebook, and others can find stuff you’ve shared with them. Each person sees unique results.”
Will the new search capability inadvertently force users to be more cautious about what they share online? Will we see more private profiles as a result of the seemingly sophisticated search capability? Only time will tell, but overall, it appears that Facebook has found another way to keep people on the site. For more information on graph search, Click HERE.
While it’s a cool technology for sure, I’m not sure I’m liking the ease at which people can dig into other’s data. We shall see.
I completely agree, Jeff. It’s already so easy to dig up dirt on people through Facebook and Twitter. I do believe we will see a more conservative movement for what people share online. For example, I like certain movies, music and publications that aren’t exactly PG or good for my online rep, so I don’t “Like” them on FB. I know others are comfortable sharing everything, but maybe people will think twice before hitting post after graph search goes live.
Agreed! Especially concerning for those teens who like to ‘friend’ everyone just so they can have a high count, or click on any and everything…new dimension to online best practices for kids.