Facebook expands 'Graph Search' within social network

Facebook said Monday it was expanding the capabilities of its "Graph Search" function to help users navigate and find information within postings on the world's biggest social network.

"Starting today, Graph Search will include posts and status updates. Now you will be able to search for status updates, photo captions, check-ins and comments to find things shared with you," the company said in a statement.

"Search for the topics you're interested in and see what your friends are saying, like 'Dancing with the Stars' or 'Posts about Dancing with the Stars by my friends.'"

Facebook launched the service in January in an effort to help members better navigate the vast amount of information on Facebook, which is not available on Web search engines such as Google. But at the time, it lacked detailed information from member postings.

Facebook emphasized that the new effort is not Web search, but can help find certain information archived within the network and in the content of friends. It uses Microsoft's Bing search engine to scour content in Facebook.

The company said the expanded Graph Search is rolling out slowly to "a small group of people who currently have Graph Search and we will continue to improve this experience by listening to feedback."

Facebook has said Graph Search will respect privacy, and that people can only see content that has been shared with them or publicly available posts.

© 2013 AFP