CANBERRA: Facebook has begun rolling out a new keyword search function this week that allows users to quickly and easily find posts. Graph search allowed Facebookers to search for people and pages, or in complete sentences; for example, “My friends who like Radiohead”. New Facebook search could expose embarrassing past posts. It is different to the “graph search”, which Facebook launched last year to a lukewarm response from users. The new keyword search will work more like Google.
These updates were designed for mobile and are available on Facebook for iPhone in addition to desktop.Type “risotto” into Facebook and it will bring up all the posts where your friends mentioned the Italian dish, including that recipe your friend raved about in February.
But try searching “risotto”, thinking of the recipe one of your friends had posted, and you were likely to get the Facebook page of a restaurant called the Risotto Bar, or the fan page for an independent band of the same name. Now with a quick search, you can get back to a fun video from your graduation, a news article you’ve been meaning to read, or photos from your friend’s wedding last summer, a Facebook spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said the implementation of the keyword search would take a week, and would initially only be available to Facebook users in the United States.Australians using Facebook (UK) could change their language setting on the sign-in page if they wanted to start using the new search engine.
There’s a wealth of information shared on Facebook that’s not accessible anywhere else,” she said. We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for people to access this information.
The spokeswoman emphasised there were no changes to privacy on the social media site and users’ searches would only bring up posts which had been shared with them,So it might be worth looking back to see if there is anything you want to delete before it becomes easier to find; posts easily found using search terms like “smashed” or “skinny dipping”.
The spokeswoman provided only vague responses on the business case for the new search function, whether Facebook sees it as a way to challenge the dominance of Google or if it would make it easier to sell targeted advertisements on the site.