JTDimino.com

Anyone remember the good ole days when Facebook had the ability to search through profiles based on pretty much anything, including interests, activities, etc.?

Well, I do.  And I think it would be really cool to bring it back.  I fully understand that Facebook has had a lot of problems with privacy violations before, but with the way they have security set up now (you can customize security settings for many different facets of the site), I think it would work.  It just seems like a nice idea to me to be able to search to see who out of your friends, or who in your area (that gives permission for the information to be searchable, of course) likes a particular band, or has read a certain book.

The idea has many different applications and possibilities.  Since Facebook is pretty much the most-viewed website in the world, it’s a great tool to use to connect to people.  For those would be interested in using it as such, it could be a great way to find people who are similar to you in your area,  à la dating service (again, for the privacy-minded, it could be made into a separate branch of the site, with its own privacy settings).

Before tonight, I was also going to suggest that Facebook create a way for you to see which of your friends you have the most in common with (measured by number of similar “likes” on Facebook – granted, not a perfect system, but hey, you gotta work with what you got).  Well, I just discovered tonight, right before writing this post, that Facebook actually does have a page for that – the Page browser – which shows you interests you might be interested in (based on your own and your friends’, I guess) and shows you which of your friends has the most “likes” in common with you.  What would still be an interesting addition, however, would be for people to have the option to allow others to see how much in common they have with them.

Of course, no matter what the benefits may be, there will always been cynics and detractors that think it’s a bad idea due to security risks.  Well, it’s quite possible they’re right.  It’s unfortunate though that such a revolutionary and potentially useful social networking site like Facebook has to be ruined by those who seek to violate the privacy and security of others.  If only Facebook could remake its reputation as being a safe and secure social networking site, maybe it could happen.  I’ll be waiting till then.