Facebook New Post Editing Feature

In the last week Facebook has released a new feature which allows users to edit posts after they have been posted. Although this feature could be useful for editing small spelling mistakes, it has caused a discussion over whether it could be misused, making it look like you have liked or commented on something that you didn’t intend to at the time.

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Back in June 2012, Facebook started allowing users to edit comments which they posted on other users' posts. Although this has been useful for editing minor errors in posts, it doesn't appear to have had any other effects or misuses. Similarly, Google+ has also had the option to edit its posts for a while, with little concern over the effect this could have. So why has Facebook’s latest announcement caused such a stir about potential misuse?

The main reason for this concern is because users who have liked or commented on a post which is subsequently edited, will not be notified by Facebook of any of the changes that are made. This means a simple post which you have liked could be turned into something controversial. This could be especially concerning for individuals due to the new Graph Search which is being rolled out on Facebook which allows you to search previous posts, statuses and things that you have liked. This could potentially bring up examples of things you appear to have ‘liked’ or supported through commenting on something which might actually have been edited to be a controversial post when previously it wasn't.

This could be particularly damaging to a brand’s reputation or image as a brand could like or comment on a post that is later edited to something that undermines or potentially damages the company’s brand or principles. The same could be said for public figures or celebrities who might support something, only for it later to be changed. This does depend on the likelihood of individuals to attempt to ‘stitch up’ their friends online and try and embarrass them – however, if used responsibly the editing feature is a tool which could be useful for individuals.

The positive aspects of Facebook’s new post editing feature is that if you have misspelled something on your post, it can be easily corrected without losing the likes and comments the post has already amassed. This feature reflects the growing access of social media sites on smartphones, on which it is easier to create spelling mistakes or typos. In addition, the use of smartphones can lead to potentially embarrassing auto-correct errors, but with Facebook’s new feature this problem can be easily solved. The feature, which is already available when commenting on other people’s posts, helps avoid those who are particularly fastidious about grammar from commenting on your errors when it was simply a typing mistake, so there are clearly some benefits to being able to edit posts.

What do you think?

Do you think that there is more potential for misuse than benefits from being able to edit posts on Facebook?

Facebook Graph Search

Facebook’s Graph Search has been described as the “third pillar” of the Facebook site – along with Timeline and News Feed - intended to be used as a tool to fulfil Facebook’s mission to make the world more open and more connected. The feature provides Facebook users with the ability to navigate their own personal connections, making them more useful and providing the opportunity to discover information, old and new. What value will Graph Search have to Facebook users? The latest development of this feature was announced on the 30th September, now allowing people to search posts and statuses as well as old photos, places and people. What effect will this new development have on the use of Graph Search?

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Released earlier this year, Graph Search is already being used by a number of Facebook users, however, only those who are using the site in US English. Graph Search can be used for a number of simple searching tasks, such as finding photos a user has liked in the past, or photos which have two specific people in. It can also help in discovery of new things as well as old posts, pictures or places that people have visited. For example, if you were to visit your friend in a different city, Facebook Graph Search could help you by searching for all the people who live in that one city, whereas previously you would have to search individually through your friends to find this information out.

People do not generally think of Facebook as a discovery tool, however, this is set to change with the use of Graph Search across the platform. Finding things like friends of friends who are interested in the same things that you are is now much easier, other examples of searches Facebook have given include – “friends who live in my city”, “people from my hometown who like hiking”, “restaurants in New York liked by chefs”, “photos before 1990” and the list goes on. The latest development for Graph Search was announced last week with the search now extended to posts and status updates as well as people, photos, places and interests. Now you will be able to search for status updates, photo captions, check-ins and comments to find things shared with you – Facebook’s search engine has now become a whole lot more powerful.



However, with this power there is also the fear of what the search might bring up. Photos long ago removed from your timeline, which have not been de-tagged will be brought to the surface once more, with the ability to search through all photos which are not private. Posts which you have liked in the past, and old statuses which were long forgotten can now be brought back into view with a simple search. Does this now mean your information is available to a wider audience and your information is less private? This thought will swiftly lead a lot of people back to their activity log to make sure old content is now deleted or is set to private and cannot be dragged up through Graph Search. However, with the new roll-out of this feature some people will have the ability to search for this old content via Graph Search before others can search it for themselves, especially as this content is currently only available for US English users. Who knows what old content this might bring up? This feature appears to be making Facebook users' lives more transparent and with no opt out setting you have to be careful what information you have left open to the public.

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However, there are a number of valuable uses that Graph Search can be put to, which include:

Job-searching:
- Job-seekers can discover companies which they might be able to apply for by searching for companies who employ people in your town, or a town or city you are moving to.
- It can help to find people who work at the companies you are interested in.
- It can help to find where your school friends are working – and you can even filter this by degree or major.
- This can also be used by recruiters in the reverse way.

A rival to dating websites:
- With the new ability to search your friends’ friends and to discover people with common interests, it could be possible for Graph Search to become a new online dating space, driving traffic away from traditional dating websites.
- One of the search fields includes “relationship status”, which means that you can specifically set it to search for “single" people.
- As the majority of young people are on Facebook nowadays, there is great potential for this to turn into a form of dating website, connecting single people based on their interests and their mutual friends. It also takes away the stigma which has become attached to online dating, and this could even be a good thing for existing online dating sites.

Journalism:

- Just as twitter updates are easily searchable and can therefore be utilised by journalists in order to crowd source or gather local information around a story, the latest Graph Search development means that the same can now be done on Facebook, making social media more useful for journalists.
- The Graph Search, which now features posts and statuses can be utilised to find out about breaking news, giving journalists an advantage for finding new witnesses for stories or eye-witness reports. There is an advantage of Facebook over Twitter in these cases as Twitter is limited to a 140 character tweet, whereas on Facebook you can put longer posts. There are also a greater number of people on Facebook compared to Twitter, which increases its potential for journalists.

These are just a few ways in which Graph Search could revolutionise Facebook use, but for now we will have to wait until the feature is rolled out to more people in order to see what its real effects are.

What do you think?

Will you use Graph Search when it is available for everyone? Are you already using Graph Search? What are you using it for?