Facebook has recently upgraded its search box in a direction favorable to online newspapers, Nick O'Neill of All Facebook reports, as news articles are now included among search results.

He quotes Facebook as stating that, "we launched the ability to see articles shared by your direct friends in the search typeahead. For instance, if your friend is on a news site and clicks 'Like' under one of the articles (which will then go into News Feed), when you go to search for that article on Facebook, it will surface in the dropdown." O'Neill also notices that news articles are only available in the dropdown box, and hopes that Facebook will upgrade its search page. "I'd assume that this will eventually shift to Facebook's search area, which has yet to undergo a significant overhaul," he wrote.

However, the search only reflects news articles which have been shared by friends. Facebook explains that articles appearing in the dropdown box are "only available for articles shared by your direct friends (not globally to all users on Facebook)."

Even with these limitations, the development remains relevant to newspapers, especially those already working with Facebook. Joseph Tartakoff on paidContent.org remarks that though "few people who head to the Facebook search box likely want to find news stories...it's easy to see how a news-specific search page on Facebook could ultimately be a powerful way to sift through the day's news."

Social media have become enormously popular, with Facebook having over 500m users and headline stories first breaking out on Twitter. This makes social networking invaluable to newspapers trying to drive traffic to their websites, especially as research has shown consumers are more likely to believe news recommended by their 'friends.' Facebook has also expressed willingness to help media outlets use their site, with the 'like' button amongst other tools. How relevant will Facebook's updated search box be to the news media?

Source: All Facebook, paidContent.org