A limited beta of Facebook's new graph search will begin rolling out today. The new feature will see many users fearfully clearing their profiles of important search information. Many users will start worrying about how their friends have been involving them by tagging them in posts, check-ins and pictures. For businesses worried about confidential information posted by employees appearing in these searches the impact of this new feature has yet to be decided.
This new method of sorting and consuming information disseminated on Facebook allows users to enter a search query and get answers back based on strands of information within their social network. As well as launching Graph Search, Facebook is also including Microsoft's Bing (Microsoft owns 1.6 % of Facebook) search results in these searches.
Many regular users of Facebook have long been complaining about how difficult it was to find anything on Facebook, no matter what variation of search you try. For fans of Facebook this new search has been long overdue however for businesses worried about confidential information appearing in search or those users worried about privacy the impact of this new feature has yet to be decided.
Mark Zuckerberg says the search feature will eventually index all content on the site. Recent changes to its’ privacy policy blocks users from opting out of the search function. At the time the change didn’t seem important however with todays launch the change makes a lot more sense. With a reported 73% of employees sharing too much information on social networks for businesses this is a significant worry. Will businesses see their confidential information appearing in Facebook graph searchs and what are the possible repercussions?
Many are sceptical of Facebooks motives believing that Facebook only see its users as lucrative libraries of data which they would eagerly sell to any company. Users are aware that Facebook is a company, however many are becoming more and more sceptical as each update raises further concerns about Facebooks philosophy around private information. For now if there's information about you that you definitely don't want to show up in searchs or publicly, you can go to your profile's "About" section to change it.
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