Facebook Experiments with Real-Time Search

Facebook has introduced a revamped search interface that brings real-time results from News Streams users in chronological order. The feature is considered experimental and has been introduced only for a small number of people but the initial reactions seem to be very positive as many have been unsatisfied with Facebook's current search capabilities.

“Those of you in the test group will see new layouts for search results that will continue to include people's profiles, Facebook Pages, groups and applications, and some entirely new Search features. With the test, you will be able to search your News Feed for the most recent status updates, photos, links, videos and notes being shared by your friends and the Facebook Pages of which you're a fan. You will also be able to search for status updates, posted links and notes in Search from people who have chosen to make their profile and content available to everyone,” reads a post on the Facebook blog.

The social networking website's search has always been considered inferior compared to similar services and while it does a decent job in finding people or groups, finding content like photos, videos or status updates was a much harder task. Other services have proven quite successful, having a powerful search tool that allows users to easily find real-time information. The biggest example would be Twitter, of course, which owes much of its explosive growth and popularity on its instant response to current events like the recent Iranian elections.

The new search interface will have a much more unified feel focusing on results from your feed but also offering results from other areas, like people, pages, groups etc. This is a big change from the current search, which places an emphasis on people and pages. The change, along with simplified privacy options coming soon, should allow Facebook to provide a much more Twitter-like experience and it's clear that, while Twitter is still a lot smaller, Facebook wants to be cautious and not rest on its laurels.