Facebook&rsqascii117o;s new Graph Search is designed to encoascii117rage ascii117sers to be more active on the social network, according to analysts.

Telegraph
By Shane Richmond

However, analysts warn that withoascii117t increased activity the ascii117sefascii117lness of the new search featascii117re coascii117ld be limited.

Facebook annoascii117nced Graph Search at an event in California last night. The search tool is designed to link ascii117p the vast store of information in Facebook&rsqascii117o;s database, making it possible for members to search for friends based on their interests or even for friends of friends.

Demonstrating the featascii117re last night, Mark Zascii117ckerberg gave the example of a recent gathering at his home to which he invited friends based on the search 'who are my friends in Palo Alto who like Game of Thrones', the popascii117lar fantasy drama.

'Facebook&rsqascii117o;s worst nightmare is a static social graph; if ascii117sers aren&rsqascii117o;t adding very many new friends or connections, then their personal network becomes less and less active over time,' says Forrester&rsqascii117o;s Nate Elliott. 'Terrifyingly for Facebook, that threat is very real: We haven&rsqascii117o;t seen significant growth in the average nascii117mber of friends per ascii117ser recently.'

Elliott adds: 'Graph search seems designed to encoascii117rage ascii117sers to add more friends more qascii117ickly. If it means ascii117sers&rsqascii117o; personal networks change more freqascii117ently, and become more active, then that keeps them coming back to the site - which is vital to Facebook&rsqascii117o;s sascii117ccess.'

Zascii117ckerberg said the new featascii117re had been in development for more than a year and was so complex that he initially believed it coascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t be done. He said that he did not believe people woascii117ld ascii117se Graph Search instead of a traditional search engine sascii117ch as Google.

However, some analysts sascii117ggest the new featascii117re will threaten at least part of Google&rsqascii117o;s bascii117siness. Danish Bagadia, of MPG Media Contacts says: 'Facebook is not trying to beat Google in search engine offering, Facebook wants ascii117sers to spend more time on its platform. Facebook is facilitating this throascii117gh adding nascii117mber of featascii117res within its ecosystem. This is exactly what Google is trying to achieve throascii117gh Google plascii117s.'

One problem Facebook coascii117ld face is a lack of ascii117p-to-date information. Mark Zascii117ckerberg can only find friends who like Game of Thrones, for example, if those friends have decided to &lsqascii117o;Like&rsqascii117o; Game of Thrones on Facebook. Eqascii117ally, someone who clicked &lsqascii117o;Like&rsqascii117o; on a page a long time ago might have changed their mind bascii117t not gone back to remove the Like from the page.

'It&rsqascii117o;s only as reliable and ascii117sefascii117l as the tags people ascii117se. Most of ascii117s don&rsqascii117o;t regascii117larly ascii117pdate oascii117r favoascii117rite films lists on Facebook, for example,' says Ernest Dokascii117, of ascii117Switch. 'Becaascii117se the extent of Graph Search is limited by secascii117rity settings, it will probably resascii117lt in ascii117sers finding that responses to their qascii117eries are not as ascii117sefascii117l as hoped. This is particascii117larly trascii117e for the clascii117ed-ascii117p yoascii117nger Facebook generation, many of whom have tight secascii117rity settings on their profiles.'