What types of things can I search for using Facebook graph search?

You can search across people, Pages, friends, photos and other content shared with you on Facebook, such as their education, hometown, current city, interests, as well as places, restaurants, books, movies, games and music they like.
You can explore Graph Search in a variety of ways, like putting together keywords for things that interest you. If you need some ideas, you can try some of these searches:
  1. Photos of underwater photography
  2. Friends who live in my city
  3. Ski resorts my friends have been to
  4. Restaurants nearby that my friends like
  5. Photos of my friends from my high school
You can combine phrases together, or add things like locations, timeframes, likes and interests to get more specific. For example:
  1. Friends who live in San Francisco and work at Facebook
  2. Movies liked by people who like my favorite movies
  3. Photos of my friends in October 2012
  4. Music liked by people who like music I like

More content that you’re able to see on Facebook may be added to these search results over time, such as posts, comments or events. 

Safety Tips for Facebook Graph Search


As always, when sharing anything on Facebook, remember to use good judgment and share responsibly. Learn more about tools to help control what appears in search below:
  • Manage Your Activity Log: Activity log makes it easy to see the things you’ve posted on Facebook, make changes to the audience of past photos and other posts, and choose what appears on your Timeline. We recently announced some new tools that make it easier to take action on multiple photos, such as untagging them, or requesting that they are removed with one click.If you are ever concerned who can see content you have posted or shared on Facebook, review it on your Activity Log
  • Review About Me: In addition to your Activity Log, review the 'About' tab to check any basic info you have shared with others on your profile, such as your current city, your workplace, Pages you like, or your education. The same people who can see this info on your profile can search for this info about you. Check this section to make sure you are comfortable with the audience you have chosen to share this information with.
  • Reporting:  As always, do not hesitate to report any abusive content you see on Facebook in the report links throughout site.
If you’re interested in getting Graph Search sign up for the preview waiting list at www.facebook/graphsearch.

Can other people search for and view things that I post or share?

The people you choose to share things with (ex. posts, photos, likes, basic info etc.) may see these things in search results.

For example: content you post publicly may show up in search results for anyone, content you share with friends may show up in search results for your friends, and so on.


You can use the audience selector to choose who can see things you post.
To see and review posts you’ve hidden from your timeline, go to your activity log by clicking the activity log button in your timeline.

How are the web search results determined?

The web search results are found using Microsoft Bing [www.bing.com].
These results list websites and content from across the internet, not just from Facebook.

What Facebook features will I find on Bing.com?

On Facebook’s web search powered by Bing, you may see friends’ faces next to results they’ve liked and shared publicly.

The same experience is available to you on Bing.com. Additionally, people searches are personalized. When you search for people you know on Bing, you will be able to see public Facebook timelines of people close to you (ex. your Friends or Friends of Friends).

This can happen when you go to Bing while logged in to Facebook or if you connect to Facebook while on Bing.

How do I see what others can search about me?


Search respects privacy settings, which means people can search for info about you that they can see on Facebook, based on what's been shared with them.
There are three ways you can manage what others may see about you in search results:
  • Use the audience selector to choose who can see things you share
  • Visit your activity log to see and review things you’ve hidden from your timeline
  • Go to the About section on your timeline to view and manage basic info about yourself
Remember: The goal of Graph Search is to help you discover new people, places and things. That's why it shows you the most relevant results, even if they do not exactly match your search term. For example, if someone searches for Lady Gaga they will see a set of results that includes but is not limited to the offical Lady Gaga Page.

How is Graph Search improved from Facebook’s existing search tool?


Graph search lets you search for more than you’ve been able to find before. You can use simple phrases tosearch for sets of people, places and things that match specific characteristics. These search results help you explore connections between people, places and things, and make fun discoveries.
For example, you can search for friends of your friends in a new city you’ve moved to, look up photos by classmates from a specific time period, or see photos friends and others have shared with you from famous landmarks.
When you pair up phrases like, Photos of and friends or coworkers and your current city, interests, or likes you can discover things friends have in common that you never realized before, find new activity partners, discover great music similar to bands you already listen to, make your own travel guide, and more.
Graph search is available in a limited preview for desktop only and will be available on mobile later in 2013.

How do I use Graph Search?


To get started, make sure you have Graph Search. Graph search is available to a small number of people using Facebook in English (US) in a limited preview for desktop only. It will be available on mobile later in 2013. To sign up to join the preview, visit facebook.com/graphsearch.
  • Click on the search bar at the top of the page.
  • Begin typing your search. For example, Friends who live in San Francisco and like cycling. See examples of things you can search for with the Graph Search.
  • As you type, a list of search suggestions will appear below the search bar.
  • Choose one of the suggested options or finish typing and hit Enter.

I don't have Graph Search. How can I get it?


If you're interested in getting Graph Search, you can let us know at facebook.com/graphsearch.
Right now Graph Search is available to a small number of people using Facebook in English (US). We will continue to make this available to more people in the near future.

Does Graph Search use keywords?


Yes. Graph search supports keyword searches, just like before. When you start searching with keywords (ex.John San Francisco or Photos Hawaii friends) you will see suggested people, photos, Pages and apps that match your keywords.
If you see the name of what you’re looking for in the list, select it to go directly to that timeline, Page or app.
You may also select one of the suggested searches to see a full list of search options for that suggestion (ex.People named John who live in San Francisco, California or Photos taken in Hawaii of my friends).

What shows up in Graph Search results?


You see unique results for each search based on your connections to people, places and things, and based on what you’re able to see on Facebook.
Your friends, interests and other connections impact the order of your results.
People’s privacy choices also influence the specific results you’re able to see. For example, if you search for photos of Paris, you may see photos your friends took and shared with you first, because you’re more closely connected to those people and pictures. You may also see photos that people you’re not friends with have shared with Public, because you are part of the audience for those photos.

Can I use the Graph Search bar to search the web?

Yes. You can use Graph Search to perform a web search by typing in web search: before your search keywords.
You may also see suggested web searches pop up as you search normally.

Can I use Graph Search on mobile

Graph search is only available as a limited preview on desktop at this time but should be available on mobile later in 2013. You can still use regular search on mobile if you have Graph Search on desktop.

How does Graph Search work for minors

Like adults, minors can appear in search results. Some things, like their school, current city, hometown or birthday may only be visible to their friends, or friends of their friends who are also minors.

Difference between Facebook Graph Search and Google Search

Like adults, minors can appear in search results. Some things, like their school, current city, hometown or birthday may only be visible to their friends, or friends of their friends who are also minors.

What is Facebook Graph Search


Understanding the Graph

To understand how Facebook's search works, you first have to understand what the "graph" is. The graph is a database that stores information about the users, pages, and other objects within the Facebook universe. It also includes the relationships between them. Each entity, or "node," within the Facebook graph—identified by a unique number called a fbid (Facebook ID)—has a set of attributes, or metadata, associated with it. The relationships between these nodes, called "edges," contain their own metadata to describe the type of relationship between them.
The graph database used by Facebook is quite similar to Google's Knowledge Graph and Microsoft's Satori graph-based repository. But in many ways, the structure of Facebook's graph is simpler than Google's and Microsoft's graph schemas, because Facebook has tuned the metadata for its nodes and edges specifically for social interaction—not to store product SKUs or how many times a particular actor has been to rehab. The Facebook Graph may not be able to answer those questions, but it contains data about other things that are useful. You can learn what entities are close to a certain location, liked by certain people, or otherwise tethered to a user through the social network's path of edges.

The problem is that there are hundreds of billions of entities in the Facebook Graph, with trillions of relationships connecting them and trillions of attributes. Sankar said that the attributes of Facebook's photos alone number in the trillions. So how do you index and search something that big?
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