The New Facebook: What You Need To Know About Graph Search

Today I want to talk about the Facebook Graph Search Tool. I have officially been taken off the waiting list, and have been able to test it out. For the past few days, I have merely been using it look for friends or events; pretty much the normal everyday things I use the search tool for. This week though, I have decided to see what the new Graph Search Tool is all about. I decided to do a test run, and type in the search bar, “My friends who work in Dallas, Texas.”  Sure enough, up comes a list of all my friends on Facebook who work, or have worked in Dallas (I figured I would try Dallas since I don’t live there).

As I continued to explore this new tool, something I found interesting is you can find what restaurants are near to you from your current location. You can even refine this search to just say Lubbock, TX.  I started wondering however, how does Facebook know what restaurants are close to me? After some digging (and believe me it wasn’t a real obvious find), I realized that Facebook, like so many other sites, mark what device you accessed the site from and where. I have attached a screen-shot here, and circled in red is where you can find information about your active sessions.

 

Now, before you become alarmed, note that you can end the activity, although that doesn’t necessarily mean Facebook will stop seeing where you accessed the site from. This is a normal procedure used by almost every company around the world with a website, and since Facebook is a social platform, it’s only natural they would track this information. That is not my focus in this article today however. I mostly wanted to explore the new Facebook search tool to see if it’s something that can be useful. But, if you are interested in protecting your online privacy, and only want your friends to search for information concerning you, here is a link to a great article that shows what you can do: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/technology/personaltech/protecting-your-privacy-on-the-new-facebook.html?ref=technology.

I think for now, the tool is a good start. One of the main things Facebook will have to worry about is users concerned about their privacy. However, if Facebook wants to be the primary source of information rather than Google, the tool will have to be improved. For instance, when typing into the search bar, “2013 Lubbock, TX events,” it sent me to a web search. While that is a lot like Google, what I would like to see, and I think many consumers would as well, would be results that specifically tie into Facebook. For instance, if Lubbock is having a 5K in support of a great cause, I want to know, especially because this should be public information. Now yes, if you get invited to the event, then of course you can see it. But what about those public events that sometimes get lost in the maze of the news feed? That awesome 5k that is supposed to be public could get lost, and unless there is a personal invite or one of your friends is going, it’s hard to find.

I think ultimately, this tool has a way to go before it is used as a primary search engine, but I think it is definitely a good start. You can even see music your friends like and games they like to play, which further builds upon the community feel Facebook provides consumers. From a business standpoint, this tool can be very beneficial. For instance, you could look up, “Friends attending Chamber Events,” and connect with them at the event.  I think this tool has some potential, and feedback is going to be Facebook’s best friend. That is why there is a waiting list, so the few brave guinea pigs can test it out and give feedback, which is certainly what I will be doing.

I will keep you all updated on this process, and if any of you have had the chance to try it out, let me know what you think!  If you want to sign up for the waiting list, click this link: https://www.facebook.com/ctsinet?ref=hl#!/about/graphsearch and scroll to the very bottom of the page. I am available for any questions you guys have, and until next time!

Julie