By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    superfoods to help with prostate health
    10 Healthy Foods That Can Help Protect Your Prostate
    August 29, 2022
    recover from an acl injury
    Best Exercises to Rehab a Torn ACL Without Special Equipment
    November 29, 2022
    medical practice and technology advancement
    6 Essential Strategies for Improving Your Medical Practice
    January 25, 2023
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Heart Attacks & Hospitalization in CA
    June 16, 2011
    1309953786_9781780660004-web_w185_h300
    Possibly the Best #Health Advice You Could Get!
    March 2, 2012
    Is a Government Takeover of Health Care Underway?
    August 1, 2011
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Facebook Graph Search: Game Changer or Minefield for Healthcare Marketing
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Social Media > Facebook Graph Search: Game Changer or Minefield for Healthcare Marketing
Social Media

Facebook Graph Search: Game Changer or Minefield for Healthcare Marketing

Lonnie Hirsch
Lonnie Hirsch
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

If you track the evolutionary and revolutionary changes of the Internet you’re probably wondering—or a bit confused—about Facebook’s new “Graph Search”…and what it will mean for healthcare marketing.

If you track the evolutionary and revolutionary changes of the Internet you’re probably wondering—or a bit confused—about Facebook’s new “Graph Search”…and what it will mean for healthcare marketing. Facebook, the king of social media, is challenging business rival Google, the king of online search.

Although Graph Search is in what Facebook officially terms “a very limited beta program for English (US) audiences,” our initial impression is one of concern about two significant issues for providers, medical industry executives and marketing professionals. At the top of the list are personal healthcare privacy matters, and the quality of responsible (accurate) medical information.

What is Graph Search?

More Read

Handshake.jpg
How Practice Managers Can Get Physician Buy-In for Digital Marketing
Request for Submissions to the Next Edition – “The Mobile Edition” of the #HCSM Review!
Getting Young Invincibles to Buy Health Insurance?
Health Care Social Media – How to Engage Online Without Getting into Trouble (Part I)
HIMSS Moving Forward

Graph Search facilitates searching for people, places, things and images. “With Graph Search,” Facebook says, “you can look up anything shared with you on Facebook, and others can find stuff you’ve shared with them, including content set to Public. That means different people see different results. Your privacy choices determine what’s searchable.”

“The company’s algorithms,” according to the New York Times, “will filter search results for each person, ranking the friends and brands that it thinks a user would trust the most. At first, it will mine users’ interests, photos, check-ins and ‘likes,’ but later it will search through other information, including status updates.” [NYT: Search Option From Facebook Is a Privacy Test]

Unlike Google search, Facebook Graph Search draws down on information posted by other Facebook users, and secondarily via Bing. For casual social stuff, like shared comments about a motion picture or a restaurant, the results would be largely innocuous.

But searches about health, healthcare, disease or medication topics could bring forward personal postings about sensitive or private matters, and collectively may not be authoritative or medically sound.

“Facebook’s contention that nothing will come up in a search that has not been shared publicly with the person searching may be technically true,” writes Anthony Wing Kosner at Forbes.com. “But the fact is that most users do not realize all that they have shared, or have shared things in one context and never intended them to be shared in another.” [Forbes: Facebook Graph Search Is A Disruptive Minefield Of Unintended Consequences]

Although Graph Search is in beta release (some adjustments are likely), it’s worth a test drive for a possible future marketing fit. The user public and marketing pros both need to be aware that it’s not the same as a Google search. Results can include Facebook people, groups and products. Users can filter by physical location (a potential plus for local resources), and the system appears to give added weight to pages with “Likes.”

Facebook’s enormous size (one billion users worldwide) and its nearly unrivaled level of user engagement means that Graph Search—however it unfolds and evolves—is well worth the time and attention of healthcare marketing executives. Early impressions could change over time, including reviews that call Graph Search a “game changer” for Facebook. The question is, is this a change for the better for healthcare marketing?

 

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025
engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

doctors and social media
BusinessSocial Media

The Compelling Case for Doctors to Warmly Embrace Social Media

November 23, 2014
Pharma Phorum
BusinesseHealthSocial Media

LinkedIn Influencers: Good or Bad for Pharma?

April 3, 2014

Why Physicians Are Afraid of Social Media and Why They Shouldn’t Be

January 28, 2015

Social Media and Public Health: Using Facebook to Monitor Obesity Prevalence

June 3, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?