Introducing Facebook Graph Search

Facebook Graph Search was rolled out last week, and is now available in its beta stages. What is Facebook Graph Search? Facebook graph search is a new way that Facebook will process data and allow you to conduct focused searches. However, it has raised issues around privacy and optimisation.

What implications could it have on issues such as privacy and social media marketing? Read on to find out more.

Facebook Graph Search is the new search tool developed by Facebook that will allow you to do more detailed and specific searches using the data that friends have shared with you and that you have shared with others. For example, it will allow you to search for 'Photo's of my friends in York' or 'Friends who like Greenday'.

It has been described by experts as a Smart Search Engine, and there is already talk of GSO (Graph Search Optimisation) rather than SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

This comedy You Tube video shows the detail that you can search in with Graph Search eg. 'People I went to college with and like Baseball' and 'Photos of me naked!'

One of the scary issues that has been raised is the issue of privacy on Facebook. Surely Graph Search Optimisation is the creep or stalkers dream?!

Do you think that Facebook Graph Search is going to raise issues of privacy?

What are the implications of Social Media Graph search for marketing and business?

As Facebook Graph search allows more detailed and specific searches, this means that it could have the potential to drastically improve the quality of Facebook marketing for businesses, making businesses 'more discoverable'. People will be able to search for brands and businesses based on specific criteria, therefore finding brands directly relating to their needs. This is likely to result in a quality fan base, rather than a large number of fans who don't really engage.

This does mean that businesses will need to keep up with the times, and optimise for Graph Search. This means that content will need to be constantly updated with keywords and locations in mind so that your brand or business appears when Facebook users search for a particular type of business or location.