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Introducing Graph Search

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Re: Introducing Graph Search

#121

Post by xauronx »

DannyBee wrote: post #17
chetan51 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well for one, it seems like a great way to browse Facebook content using natural language, rather that mouse clicks and page surfing. I like the idea of saying "give me pictures that I like taken in my hometown with my brother", rather than clicking through a bunch of filters. I for one welcome any new natural language interface that can replace and improve on click interactions.

sure, i get the "better way to work with facebook's site" aspect, and i'm sold on that, but that doesn't seem to be how either facebook or the press is trying to sell it (I wouldn't be so harsh if it was just the press trying to sell it this way, since the press is always trying to generate clicks :P)

I'm on the same page as you. This is like Google doing a press release because it changed the search algorithm on gmail. It's kind of underwhelming.

Re: Introducing Graph Search

#122

Post by [deleted] »

xk_id wrote: post #108
Irregardless wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is huge. Huge! Quite the opposite, in my opinion. People don't like being bothered by strangers on Facebook. It's weird and creepy, especially so when it's a guy contacting a girl. This could be seen as a disincentive to share if you don't want your face popping up on search results for people outside your immediate network. It also makes friends who are ignorant or careless about privacy more of a liability.…

I kindof get the feeling facebook conveys an autistic interpretation of human social interactions.

[deleted]

Re: Introducing Graph Search

#123

Post by not_that_noob »

This is Facebook trying to become Google. +1 for ambition. But lousy product and mostly meh. It's not a Google killer.

People go to Google to search for lots of stuff they want to know more about. Movies, sports, homework, whatever. And when they need that particular mouthwash, where do they think of first? Google. And thus the power of AdWords. The habit of general searching causes you to turn to Google when you're seeking a product.

Mark Z is smart, and recognizes this dynamic. So he's trying to create a destination for your search queries. The problem for him is that people already have a habit he needs to break. And what he's offering as an incentive to break it is pretty weak tea. How often will the average user (grandma in Peoria) turn to Graph Search? Not often enough to break her Google habit.

+1 for effort and ambition - but I doubt this is going to be much more than hype.

Re: Introducing Graph Search

#124

Post by xauronx »

joeblau wrote: post #48
DannyBee wrote: post #2

I guess i don't get why I should care. I either have to unfriend people to get it to give me stuff i care about (since it appears to have no way to explain i don't give a shit what my grandma thinks about sushi in palo alto), or it's giving me answers that don't seem better. I understand they needed to improve their site/internal search, and this looks great for that. But it just doesn't seem like that big a deal to…

You're not missing anything... that's it. Facebook CEO rolls out search feature. While I do think that the feature is pretty interesting, I don't think it warrants reporters flying in from all over the country to cover the event. I'd be pretty upset right now if I flew in from a news organization NYC to cover this.

Oh man, I know. I would be furious. Now you have to somehow justify that $10k trip by forcing yourself to make search sound cool and draw views. Now you have to spend your time trying to figure out WHY this feature is worth anyone caring about past a search for "What 18 year old females have recently gotten out of a relationship?"

Re: Introducing Graph Search

#125

Post by pico303 »

shock-value wrote: post #111
aganek wrote: post #60

I think this a big deal. The first step to a Yelp killer? Type in "Italian Restaurant" and get back list of all the restaurants your friends have checked into. A recommendation engine. For now, its mostly to filter your facebook data. But do you think it can expand and become the goto search engine, ala google?

It could maybe work if they do it like Netflix: build a profile of you based on what you have rated highly, and put you in a pool with similar people (friends or otherwise), thus providing more accurate recommendations. But I think Facebook overhypes how much people care about their friend's preferences, at least for most things. We generally don't pick friends based on how closely their shopping/eating/whatever habi…

At my company we've been arguing this same point for years. It doesn't matter what your friends like; it matters what people with similar interests like. Rarely are your friends and family a reflection of all of your likes and dislikes. I'm sure some psychologist could point out the low probability of forming friendships with people who are exactly like you.

It seems like Facebook and other social networks took the idea of asking your friends for a recommendation on a good doctor or auto shop and twisted it into some overly simplified premise that if one friend likes something, all of my friends will like it too.

Re: Introducing Graph Search

#126

Post by glomph »

sek wrote: post #78

1. Weird marketing, the word "Graph" doesn't mean anything to average people. Just call it "Facebook Search". Also these cold hyper emotional sounds kinda turn me off, even Apple has more friendly ads. Did they steal the music from some apocalyptic space movie trailer? 2. Interesting problem, to make all that data available to natural search queries. Definitely an attack on Google who still can't really answer natura…

>The word "Grap" doesn't mean anything to average people.

You can say that again!

Re: Introducing Graph Search

#127

Post by notahacker »

aleyan wrote: post #90
simonsarris wrote: post #53

This is an important step for Facebook and I'm surprised no one has really mentioned it (all ~50 comments so far are about the graph search). The big thing here isn't graph search, or the fancy searching per se. The big thing here is this: > "and meet new people, too." This is huge. Huge! Facebook from the start was envisioned as a sort-of dating platform but that part of it got swept under the rug real quick. Throug…

> "and meet new people, too." This really seems to harken back to facebook circa 2004. Every single comma separated phrase in interests section of your profile was a link that brought up all the other profiles with that phrase in your college network. I suppose some folks discovered each other this way, but it didn't seem very popular. No one cared when facebook disabled it.

Not to mention the ability to run checkbox-based searches across your university network based on a combination of gender "interested in" and "relationship status". Not sure it was lack of use that got that removed...

Re: Introducing Graph Search

#128

Post by zaidf »

alaskamiller wrote: post #91
zaidf wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider the "meet new people" a downgrade for facebook than an upgrade. I hope that is not a direction they pursue aggressively because it risks making facebook less relevant. One of the things that made facebook different is the expectation that you're somewhat creepy if you just go around friending random people. As a long time facebook user, I prefer it stay that way.

Just to play devil's advocate... creepiness is defined by the generation _after_ you. It's inherently defined, something creeps along, up, or around. So, really, what you think actually doesn't matter. It's what the 16 yo kids think is cool. And if they enjoy spending all afternoon after school going through Facebook profiles, well I guess so it goes.

creepiness is defined by the generation _after_ you

Source:)?

I get the "hook" to lure people onto facebook may change from generation to generation but I wouldn't necessarily say the hook for a newer generation supersedes the needs of the existing generations. If that were the case, facebook would always be focued on building a product for 16-18 year olds. Clearly that hasn't been the case from their past history.

Re: Introducing Graph Search

#129

Post by togasystems »

pmtarantino wrote: post #41
togasystems wrote: post #29

Crazy.. I developed a Facebook Graph search about a year ago using FQL queries. It works very similarly to how Facebook implemented their Graph Search. I even put a voice recognizer on top of it. Glad to know that my crazy ideas aren't so crazy after all :) Link to demo video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g...

Release it as open source and BOOM :D

I might... It would need a big clean, but what personal project doesn't?

Re: Introducing Graph Search

#130

Post by sek »

glomph wrote: post #126
sek wrote: post #78

1. Weird marketing, the word "Graph" doesn't mean anything to average people. Just call it "Facebook Search". Also these cold hyper emotional sounds kinda turn me off, even Apple has more friendly ads. Did they steal the music from some apocalyptic space movie trailer? 2. Interesting problem, to make all that data available to natural search queries. Definitely an attack on Google who still can't really answer natura…

>The word "Grap" doesn't mean anything to average people. You can say that again!

I swear that was unintentional, fortunately I could still edit it XD
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