Love the idea, or hate it, Facebook's Graph Search — which lets you more easily find things like photos of your friends or the movies they might like — was rolled out Wednesday for everyone using Facebook in U.S. English. (For those who speak British English, and search for, say, "rasher" instead of "bacon," you will still have to wait for Graph Search.)
Facebook introduced its social search tool last January, but until now, it was available on a limited basis.
One of the first things you might want to check is for photos of yourself that might be out on the social network that you weren't aware of. All you have to do is type in the word "Photos" followed by your name in the search box. You can also do things like look for photos you have "liked" for a stroll down memory lane, as well as for a check to make sure you didn't "like" a photo you now deem to be deem politically incorrect.
And if you haven't yet, check your privacy controls on information that is shareable and could wind up in Graph Search's index of information.
"As a reminder, we introduced new privacy controls back in December and announced that we would be retiring the old 'Who can look up my timeline by name?' setting in the coming months," Facebook said in a news post Wednesday. "Now that people have had an opportunity to explore those tools, we are starting to retire this setting for the small percentage of people that use it."
The social network says it is encouraging "everyone to use your privacy shortcuts and Activity Log to review and adjust whom you have shared with, including status updates."
Here's a handy, recent guide about how to work with Graph Search. And to learn more from Facebook about it, click here.
Check out Technology and TODAY Tech on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.