Options to refine a Facebook Graph Search.
The revolution will not be televised … it will be on Facebook. Ugh.
Today I received access to Facebook’s Graph Search in Beta. Even the tour that walked me through Graph Search was personalized! This creepy new search functionality already has users in a tailspin about privacy. Here’s a look at what Graph search does and how it may prove revolutionary for the Facebook empire.
What does Graph Search do?
Instead of limiting Facebook search to the structure of the site (i.e. pages, people, places, interests), Graph Search enables users to uncover connections between people, places and things. Formerly you could do keyword-esque searches to turn up people, business pages, community pages, places and interests. Now you can search your network for very specific interactions and interests.
A Sample Search: “My friends who like Radiohead”
For example, I ran a search for “My friends who like Radiohead” and Facebook returned a results page listing my connections who like this band. The results were not in alphabetical order. I think the results were organized by how recently and frequently I’ve engaged with each friend. To the right of the results, Facebook provided a panel where I could refine my search by gender, relationship, employer, age and more. I could also extend this search to see more content from the people who like Radiohead, such as their other interests, photos, places visited, and so on. I might look at the other bands this groups “likes” to discover new music or find out what restaurants this crowd has visited lately.
Future Potential for Graph Search
Marketers, small business owners, non-profits, and recruiters should all be watching this space closely. Improved social search functionality can ignite word-of-mouth, showing Facebook users the stores, restaurants, brands, products, and causes their network is engaging with. With a much larger user base than LinkedIn, job searchers and recruiters alike will be able to search Facebook connections by education, location, and current employers to network with a targeted group of users.
Read More about Facebook’s New Search Capabilities
To learn more, check out these articles about the impact of Facebook’s Graph Search:
- Search Engine Watch asks if Graph Search can disrupt our “Googling” ways.
- CIO answers the top ten questions about Graph Search.
- Mashable shares 3 ways that Graph Search can impact recruiting.
- Search Engine Land gets up close and personalized (pun intended) with Search Graph.
- A Huffpo piece on what Search Graph means for brands.
- AdAge is already calling for the death of Google search at the hands of Search Graph.
- An inside look at how Facebook built Search Graph.
