| Kippreport.com

We don’t make things for the sake of it – Facebook

January 27, 2013 11:25 by M. Aldalou

The below answers are attributed to *a Facebook spokesperson mostly surrounding one of their latest and possibly largest social developments; the Graph Search.

Let’s get the awkward question out of the way first. With a platform as enormous and lively as Facebook, it’s impossible for all users to adore new developments. How much attention does Facebook pay to that?

We’ve been really pleased by the reaction to Graph Search.  Some of the first people to see and use it are journalists, who normally tend to be more critical than other people – yet almost all of the reports we have seen are extremely positive.  The key has been letting people use Graph Search.  It only takes a couple of minutes to see how it can be of value. We will be working to make it available to people around the world as is technically possible.

Are you constantly looking to make changes? Do you ever think about just letting the dust settle?

Facebook is an innovation driven company, but we don’t just make things for the sake of it.  We are driven by our mission to make the world more open and connected and the things we create are designed to support that goal.

For a while, Zuckerberg seemed hesitant about getting into search. Is Facebook Graph Search meant to eventually replace the normal search engine?

Traditional search engines help people to find information on the web, but they are not so good at connecting with real people and the knowledge that they have to share.  Just as, in the offline world, we are most likely to turn to friends, family and colleagues first if we want information and guidance, we wanted to give people the power to use their entire network of Facebook friends in the same way.

When new developments are made, is there a lot of attention paid to competitors? Or is it just about what’s good for Facebook?

We look at what would be useful to the people who use Facebook, not what other companies are doing.

Would you say the Graph Search is a game changer or just another feature?

We believe that Graph Search is a powerful tool and it will get more powerful over time, but it is the people who use it that will decide if it is a game changer.  Like many aspects of Facebook – we create the feature, but it’s the people who discover new and powerful ways to get value from it.

What does this new feature mean for brands?

Graph Search enables discovery and recommendation. So if I want to find friends that like a particular soft drink – it just got easier.  Right now there is not a specific advertising tool that relates to Graph Search, but we think it is a good opportunity for businesses to ensure that they have their Facebook presence in order – ensuring that their page description, location and other details are up to date.

Tags: Facebook