Facebook Social Graph is a huge step towards creating a personalised search engine.
Do you ever watch a movie recommended by a family member? Do you like the same music as your friends? Do you want to find people who share common interests with you, such as football or traveling? This is where Social Graph steps in.
In simple terms, Social Graph is a database or a map of all the connections that Facebook users have with each other. People can then use Graph Search to find things in Facebook’s network in the context of how it relates to you.
Graph Search – The Beginning of a Personalised Search Engine
Graph Search is the latest Facebook feature that is creating huge buzz. Graph search is how Facebook users will search through the enormous Facebook population
If Graph Search has been released in your Facebook account, you’ll see it in the top bar of your Facebook screen (screenshot below).
Graph Search functions through a user’s network of connections or social graph to find answers to queries. Graph Search also understands natural language. In other words, you can type just like you think and Facebook will decipher what you mean to perform the effective search. Hence, people can use Graph Search to very easily to find information on Facebook.
Here are examples of searches you can use:
- “Music my friends like”
- “Pictures of me taken in Malaysia”
- “Friends who visited Thailand”
If Graph Search can’t find what you’re looking for in Facebook, it will revert to pulling results from the internet.
Facebook’s Graph Search could be the start of an incredibly powerful search engine. It could be the tool that eventually trumps the Google search engine. Why? Because Social Graph is the beginning of searching for things to get results based upon who you are, rather than searching for things to get results based upon a keyword.
See more: Is Facebook’s Social Graph arriving in Malaysia?
What do you think about it? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Also, stay in touch with us by registering for our free e-newsletter here.
Photo credit: Robert Scoble / Foter.com / CC BY
"ExpatGo welcomes and encourages comments, input, and divergent opinions. However, we kindly request that you use suitable language in your comments, and refrain from any sort of personal attack, hate speech, or disparaging rhetoric. Comments not in line with this are subject to removal from the site. "
