CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that Facebook is akin to a huge social database and like any functional database users should be able to make queries on it. The Graph Search is designed to help Facebook users navigate through the vast information contained on the site with ease.
The Graph Search will work in the same way as any search engine, but it will not act as a web search meaning that privacy will still be accorded to the site information. Zuckerberg mentioned that the company is open to working with search engines as long as the privacy of users is upheld. He added that searchable information will be what is already accessible to the public.
Zuckerberg explained that some of the queries the new function will offer include finding friends who live in the same city, friends who share similar interests or professions.
Bing will power the graph query and it will be used as a source of information only when the Graph Search cannot find an answer to user queries.
