Facebook getting another facelift? Well, okay…let me just post this status update.
The thing is, people on Facebook are already used to drastic changes that this giant social network continues to roll out whether we like it or not. And because it happens almost every month, it does not seem to sound like news anymore.
This time it is entirely different…Mark Zuckerberg and his minions are turning Facebook into a stalkingdom!
Graph Search is the latest feature that Mark plans to roll out to all in the next few weeks (it is currently in Beta). It is considered the third of their baby pillars together with Timeline and Newsfeed, which are all to make the world more open and connected.
What does it do that freaking creepy?
It unearths you and your information (likes, comments, photo tags, places, friends, people, etc.) and provides it to your friends who are searching for some people who share common interests.
Simply put, Graph Search is a social search engine that indexes and collects all your friends’ data to show as results during your search. Think of it as Google with a very personalized search results.
For example, “I want to go to Lady Gaga concert in Berkeley, but who’s going with me?”
All one has to do is search “Who among my friends are going to Lady Gaga concert in Berkeley” and boom, your profile comes out as among the search results, anyone can then invite you to go with them, regardless of the status of the relationship, whether close friends or long lost acquaintances. Worse, people can just stalk you in real life because they know where you are right now.
It is great if you know 100% of your Facebook friends are actually your friends in real life, but what if they are not? Perhaps it is the perfect time to start unfriending people you do not know in Facebook, just to keep your privacy intact or you can just keep a lifeless existence on Facebook, no tagging photos, liking, commenting etc., in that case why not go and find some other social network that will not exploit personal information like Facebook actually intends. MySpace, anyone?
This roll out is expected to receive a mounting number of complaints, slurs and bashing from the Facebook community, not to mention online privacy advocates. Another battle to fight, right to defend and information to protect from advertisers and third party sites hoping to gain from Graph Search.
Does graph search creep you out too or are you fine with it?
Facebook Graph Search is Creeping Everybody Out – Click to Tweet
About Brandon Leibowitz
