Facebook search just got a lot more useful.
The social network is updating its search features to make posts easier to find. The update is beginning to roll out to Facebook’s website and iOS and Android apps now, the company says.
Once live, Facebook users will see three major improvements in search: personalized search suggestions, the ability to search posts shared publicly or by friends and the ability to search for what people are saying about specific topics.
Previously, entering a search term would turn up results for pages, people, groups, events, apps or trending topics. This was useful if you were searching for something specific — a fan page for your favorite TV show, for example — but less helpful if you were trying to search for more general info, like a discussion of the latest episode or fan theory.
Now, when you begin a search, Facebook will surface personalized suggestions to help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Search will also highlight topics that are currently popular, to make it easier to follow topics in real-time. Additionally, individual Facebook posts are now surfaced in search results. A search for your favorite TV show, for example, may surface posts from friends who have also shared their thoughts on the latest episode.
Similarly, you can use search to gauge what others are saying about popular topics and viral posts. “When a link gets shared widely on Facebook, it often anchors an interesting public conversation,” the company’s VP of Search, Tom Stocky, wrote in a statement.
“Now there’s a new way to quickly dive into that discussion. With one tap, you can find public posts about a link, see popular quotes and phrases mentioned in these posts, and check out an aggregate overview of sentiment.”
Facebook notes that search results will respect your existing privacy settings and won’t show anything that wasn’t already available to friends. That said, the new search features will make your posts a lot easier for others to find, so if you’re concerned about privacy, it can’t hurt to revisit your current settings, or change who can see posts you’ve previously shared.
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Source: Mashable