Facebook Enables News Feed Search

facebook searchFacebook has rolled out a new version of its Search feature, enabling users to search their own News Feed for specific posts their friends have made.

The feature, which has been initially rolled out in the US for the desktop and iOS versions, with Android updates and an international release planned, hopes to make the increasingly crowded New Feed easier to navigate, as well as moving Facebook further into the online search area.

The change enables users to find posts made by friends as easily as previous versions of the Search functionality made finding people, businesses or interest pages. Posts will be ranked using a variety of factors, such as time of posting, your relationship with the person (with friends being ranked above friends of friends, for example) and engagement.

“Youve told us the most important thing is being able to find posts youve seen before, and now you can,” wrote Tom Stocky, vice president of search for Facebook in a blog post announcing the change. “With a quick search, you can get back to a fun video from your graduation, a news article youve been meaning to read, or photos from your friends wedding last summer.”

While the change will make navigation easier for users, it may not be popular with businesses, who will find it harder for content to organically reach users, and increasingly reliant on Facebooks ad network. Its unlikely that Facebook have overlooked this consequence.