Facebook unveiled a new tool Thursday called Search FYI, which upgrades its search feature, in a bid to be more competitive against rival social media platforms.
The main significance of the Search FYI, which Facebook users must be aware of, is that their posts are now searchable if it was made available to the public. This means that the world can now access your previous feeds, including those possibly embarrassing, awkward and damaging status updates.
"We're updating Facebook Search so that in addition to friends and family, you can find out what the world is saying about topics that matter to you," Tom Stocky, vice president of Search at Facebook, said in an official statement.
Another key feature in the Search FYI tool is the capability to include real-time news in search results. This area appears to be within Facebook's initiative to keep up with its rivals such as Twitter, which has already introduced similar functionalities. There is also the added of convenience of being able to search through one's own Facebook posts. However, the benefits from the additional content may not be preferable for some who do not want to risk personal information exposure.
Facebook users can take several steps to avoid this. The most important is to check their privacy settings and keep it at the most secure level, according to Quartz. It is also helpful to delete posts or privatize compromising or problematic updates. If you do not want your past posts to be reflected in search results, you can retroactively hide previous content, as Wired suggested.
