As the old saying goes, "the only thing constant in this world is change." This idea is certainly the case when it comes to technology and more specifically, within Facebook and its ever changing platforms.
A few days ago, Facebook announced the addition of a search engine, Graph Search, to their site. This new feature will allow users to search within the site and see recommendations or information from friends as well as friends of friends. For instance, this would be useful while traveling and searching for a restaurant; you could use Graph Search to see ratings of different options from your Facebook connections. You can also use it as a way of finding people with certain interests; you will be able to see others who like a certain band, tv show, or even both.
This clearly has many implications, especially for small businesses, as it sheds a new light giving more meaning to "liking" something on Facebook. Users will begin to take liking something more seriously because the once simple act is now an influential factor to others decision making. For businesses, this means they will need to provide consistently good quality and service in order to gain and keep likes or fans. Users will no longer like a business for a one time incentive or perk and when this is the case, they will be quick to "unlike." In other words, this will force a shift in the social media marketing strategies for many businesses.
Like past Facebook changes, Graph Search has seen much initial criticism and skepticism. On the other hand, many proponents are talking about its great potential and have even mentioned it surpassing Google and becoming the new go-to search engine. While I do feel this can be a successful addition to Facebook, its usefulness is something that will certainly take time, as more information is accumulated and more users participate.
