Facebook this morning announced "Graph
Search," a way to search all of Facebook's content for queries tailored to
your profile. CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained
the search by saying, "Graph Search is meant to answer very specific
questions like 'Who are my friends in San Francisco?" In a video released
by Facebook just after the announcement, project lead Lars Rasmussen (formerly of Google Maps /
Waves fame) related a story about needing a dentist in a town he'd just moved
to, and being able to search through which dentists his friends used for a
tailored result. Worry not, privacy protectors: we're told Graph Search is
"privacy aware;" Facebook's even dedicated 10 percent of its
computing power just to the goal of ensuring privacy. And no, none of your
privacy settings will automatically change as a result of signing up or using
Graph Search.
It's being
touted as a return to Facebook's roots, when the company's main goal was
forging connections between people (rather than, say, a gaming portal, or a
means for companies to advertise). Graph Search is essentially a relaunch of
Facebook's internal search engine, allowing its already existing users to forge
new relationships with folks they may not otherwise meet, and to find content
that's hyper-specific. The beta -- albeit in a limited, English-only capacity
-- kicks off today. During that period only a "subset of content" is
available through search, with four primary areas of focus: people, photos,
places, and interests. Facebooks says Graph Search will expand, "over the
coming months," with additions like searchable wall posts and song listens
(only if your privacy settings allow those things to be searchable, that is).
You can head right here to get whitelisted for the
beta, which is apparently rolling out "very slowly." Or you could
head past the break right now for the full PR from Facebook and a walkthrough
video.
Update: Facebook "one more thing'd" us
during its event, saying that Graph Search will also pull in Bing search results. [Engadget]
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