1. Facebook Graph NMS POV
Search
January 2013

2. Executive Summary
1 billion people use Facebook. They’ve shared 240 billion photos and 1 trillion connections.
Facebook announced a new feature called Graph Search, which will make it easier for users
to navigate this social graph of connections – answering queries with social context such as
“restaurants near me that my friends like.”
This POV explains what Graph Search is, how it works, and what it means for the future of
Facebook.

3. HOW DOES IT WORK?

4. Updated Navigation Bar Design
Graph Search replaces Facebook’s traditional blue-top navigation bar with a larger live
search field. It appears prominently across all parts of the desktop Facebook experience.
This interface update will encourage users to make use of Graph Search, beckoning for
them to search wherever they are during a Facebook browsing session.

5. Natural Language Processing Makes Searching Simple
By design, Graph Search is rather intuitive. You pull it up and begin typing a question
using natural language.

6. Graph Search Fills in the Blanks
As you type, it assists you in forming a query by pulling up a range of potential search
options on-the-fly.

7. Personalization and Privacy
Graph Search is privacy aware, meaning that it respects each user’s existing privacy
settings. While Facebook will always have its critics, this implementation appears to be
very well thought out from a privacy standpoint.

8. The Difference: Facebook Search is Actually Useful
At first glance, Graph Search could be perceived as a very minor feature change.
However comparing it to the old Facebook search bar illustrates how much potential it
has to make search a worthwhile part of the Facebook experience.
The old search The new Graph Search:

9. WHAT CAN I SEARCH FOR?

10. Initial Search Categories: People, Photos, Places and Interests
Graph Search is a beta product. The beta version allows users to search for people,
photos, places, and interests, with plans to make other aspects of Facebook – such as
status updates and shared links – searchable in the future.
In describing use cases during a product demo, Mark Zuckerberg noted that “this is
where I want to emphasize how early we are in Graph Search.”

11. Search for People
People-centric searches can be used to discover more about the friends you already have.
This type of search also makes it easier to identify potential connections for networking
purposes, such as people who are friends of your friends and work at a specific company.

12. Search for Photos
Photo search simplifies the process of finding an old photo that was previously buried in
an album on a friend’s Timeline.
It can also be used to discover and instantly organize new photos from a specific place
or time period – such as “Photos of my friends in New York.”

13. Search for Places
When we travel to a new city – or even a new neighborhood – we often ask friends who
live there for restaurant recommendations.
Graph Search builds on this habit by identifying and sorting Places that friends have
been to. This feature will be especially compelling when it becomes available on mobile
in the future.

14. Search by Interests
Graph Search makes it possible to conduct Interest-based queries such as which
“languages my friends speak,” or “favorite television shows of my friends.”

15. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF
GRAPH SEARCH?

16. Facebook Has Become Ubiquitous
Over the past half-decade, Facebook has become almost universal – counting
approximately half of the entire U.S. population as active users.

17. Facebook is so Universal that it is at Risk of Stagnation
This widespread success brings forth a unique risk – that Facebook could become so
universal that it loses its appeal.
Writing for The Verge, journalist Ellis Hamburger sums this up perfectly:
“There’s no numerical evidence that Facebook has ‘lost its cool,’
but you can feel it. You hear people talking about it. Instead of
seeing Facebook blue illuminating the phones of fellow subway
and bus riders, you see Instagram or Snapchat or Twitter.
Facebook has become a normal thing — a ’social utility’
everyone uses but few are excited about.”

18. Graph Search will Help Keep Facebook Compelling
If Facebook began to lose its appeal, users would very slowly begin to input less data
into it. And without a continued flow of social data – in the form of Likes, Photo
Uploads, Location tags and other signals – the whole network would decline in value
and utility. Users wouldn’t leave Facebook altogether under such conditions; however
they would return less frequently.
But Facebook is too smart to let the flow of data stagnate, and Graph Search plays a
significant role in keeping users engaged.
Once people begin using Graph Search, they will have a stronger incentive to fill out
their profiles more fully, check in to more restaurants when they’re out, and upload
more photos with accurate location tags. All of these actions feed higher volumes of
better data into the system, making Facebook a much more compelling place to come
back to again and again.

19. Timing: Facebook is Playing the Long Game
Graph Search is being rolled out slowly and carefully, with the beta version
launching to the public “over the next few weeks and months,” according to the
company.
Note: in this context, “tomorrow” means “in the future”

20. IMPLICATIONS FOR BRANDS

21. The Hope: That Graph Search Brings us Closer to Intent Data
If I am considering buying a Hyundai, I may turn to Facebook to search for friends who
like Hyundai, photos of friends cars, or even car dealerships my friends have been to. I
may even eventually be able to search for more complex queries such as cars my
friends own or cars my friends are satisfied with.
In this case, Hyundai and competing automakers would ideally be able to identify and
capitalize on my intent to purchase by surfacing a test drive offer or a sponsored photo
of their newest model. Facebook is not offering any new ad products alongside the beta
launch of Graph Search, so this sequence is – for the time being – a hypothetical.
However if Graph Search gains traction, we anticipate the eventual launch of tools for
brands and organizations to capitalize on the purchase intent expressed through Graph
Searches.

22. The Reality: Wait for Initial Rollout Before Taking Action
It can be tempting to predict what Graph Search will mean for brands and
organizations; however doing so is premature at this time.
Currently, Graph Search is being used exclusively by a small contingent of Facebook
employees and reporters. Full comprehension of the implications for brands
requires observation of how normal people – outside of hyper-connected Facebook
insiders – use the product.
Once Graph search is released to the public in the coming weeks, NMS will be
publishing a follow-up POV with actionable guidance for brands and organizations.

23. CONNECT WITH US: