Back in January of this year, I wrote about Facebook’s impending Graph Search feature (“Facebook Graph Search Cutting Bait for Phishers“) which was set to greatly improve its existing feeble search engine as well as outrage privacy watchdogs. Based upon the feedback the developers received from the small test group to which it was originally released, Facebook went back to the drawing board, and have now decided that Graph Search is ready for its debut.
Unlike the search engine we all know and use, Facebook’s new search engine will rely heavily on the various layers of data that it has accumulated on it’s millions of users, allowing you to perform searches that list “friends who like trucks and football” or “single women in Los Angeles who like Ethiopian food”. Obviously, the results are heavily dependent upon how much information everyone shares about themselves on Facebook, but Facebook is confident that the results will be eye opening.
What this means for you:
If you haven’t heard me mention it before, there’s no better time than the present to log into your Facebook account and check your privacy settings, even if you don’t use it often, or you haven’t updated your profile since you created the account oh so many years ago. If you haven’t logged into Facebook in the past year, they have made a lot of changes to settings and security that will probably bewilder the savviest of users. I linked a guide written by the EFF on Facebook’s privacy settings here: “Tighten Up Your Facebook Security”, and Facebook is also taking a more proactive approach by warning you when you log in that Graph Search is coming and provides you a link to your privacy settings.
