Go to your facebook, type a period into the search bar and wait a moment. Five names should appear in the dropdown bar. Don’t press enter, just wait for a list of names to appear directly below the search.
Gawker reports that there are a number of theories about who these 5 people represent, but the first and clearly the best of these is the “Five people who search for your name most often” theory. The next most plausible (albeit less exciting) one would be the “Five people YOU search for most often” theory.
Do this quick before it’s gone! Feel free to comment on which theory you support. My own results would indicate that the original theory has the potential to be for real.
*edit by Sam*
The list is apparently now in alphabetical order, and apparently Facebook sent a reply to Gawker saying that:
“Facebook tries to surface the people we think are most important to users to make it easier and faster for them to navigate the site and find what they are looking for…The search drop down is not a list of those that have searched for the user. It is also not a list of people whose profile the user has viewed the most or who have viewed the user’s profile the most. To avoid any confusion, this will no longer appear.”
So do we believe them? Or do we continue speculating about what it might have been? Given that this post has received more replies faster than any other I can remember, probably the latter…
Also, the number of people who are happy with the results of that search lead me to believe that there must be some factoring in of how YOU facebook stalk OTHERS.
Also, the number of people who are happy with the results of that search lead me to believe that there must be some factoring in of how YOU facebook stalk OTHERS.
The two top people on my list are people I’ve had big crushes on in the past, but who my guess is that they are less likely to view me that often, then someone who I wall-exchange with constantly. Two others are people whose profile I don’t think I view very often at all, but who might view me more often. So my guess is that Sam is right – there’s probably some kind of algorithm that measures how much activity you guys have with each other (this could include messages, wall posts, etc in addition to how much you view each other’s profiles or search for each other)This is fascinating. or possibly creepy. I’m not sure.
The two top people on my list are people I’ve had big crushes on in the past, but who my guess is that they are less likely to view me that often, then someone who I wall-exchange with constantly. Two others are people whose profile I don’t think I view very often at all, but who might view me more often. So my guess is that Sam is right – there’s probably some kind of algorithm that measures how much activity you guys have with each other (this could include messages, wall posts, etc in addition to how much you view each other’s profiles or search for each other)
This is fascinating. or possibly creepy. I’m not sure.
2 people on my list I only have 2 friends in common with and we’re not on the same networks, so I don’t think it has to do with connectedness.
2 people on my list I only have 2 friends in common with and we’re not on the same networks, so I don’t think it has to do with connectedness.
My guess is that it’s neither–or, rather, some combination of the two.Say you type in one letter–‘S’ for example. It’ll turn up a list of five people whose names start with ‘S’ (or, if you don’t have 5, it’ll add groups onto the end). How does Facebook pick out THOSE names? I would guess that it’s some combination of mutual searches, looking at profiles, common groups, etc. It very well COULD be who searches for you the most, or who you search for the most, or any of those, but I think it’s much more likely that the people behind Facebook are intelligent enough to write some kind of algorithm that does a pretty good job of combining that data using some sort of algorithm, and that’s what determines who you see on these lists. So each person on your friends list is probably assigned some sort of ‘connectedness’ ranking, and the people are displayed based on that.Now, when you type . or ‘ or ” my guess is that some kind of bug in the way the box handles text for search queries, and it simply shows you the five people with the highest ‘connectedness’ ratings to you.Of course, all of that could be complete bullshit and it could be something much more (or less) obvious but taking a moment to think about it, this is what makes most sense to me so far.
no i just made my friend search me and my top 5 did not change
My guess is that it’s neither–or, rather, some combination of the two.
Say you type in one letter–‘S’ for example. It’ll turn up a list of five people whose names start with ‘S’ (or, if you don’t have 5, it’ll add groups onto the end). How does Facebook pick out THOSE names? I would guess that it’s some combination of mutual searches, looking at profiles, common groups, etc. It very well COULD be who searches for you the most, or who you search for the most, or any of those, but I think it’s much more likely that the people behind Facebook are intelligent enough to write some kind of algorithm that does a pretty good job of combining that data using some sort of algorithm, and that’s what determines who you see on these lists. So each person on your friends list is probably assigned some sort of ‘connectedness’ ranking, and the people are displayed based on that.
Now, when you type . or ‘ or ” my guess is that some kind of bug in the way the box handles text for search queries, and it simply shows you the five people with the highest ‘connectedness’ ratings to you.
Of course, all of that could be complete bullshit and it could be something much more (or less) obvious but taking a moment to think about it, this is what makes most sense to me so far.
no i just made my friend search me and my top 5 did not change
I think its the 5 people who most recently searched for you.
I think its the 5 people who most recently searched for you.
the people whose albums you look at most often?
the people whose albums you look at most often?
maybe the people who searched for / browsed your profile the most recently?
maybe the people who searched for / browsed your profile the most recently?
I think it’s the five people whose profile you view most often
I think it’s the five people whose profile you view most often
Not sure if it’s those who search for me, but it’s definitely not those I search for. If it IS those who search for me, I’m flattered by my results.
Not sure if it’s those who search for me, but it’s definitely not those I search for. If it IS those who search for me, I’m flattered by my results.
i dont think so…one of them is this guy that ive met ONCE, and i doubt hes a stalker…that’d be weird…but yea.i dont think its any of these things. i think its just random or something…
i dont think so…
one of them is this guy that ive met ONCE, and i doubt hes a stalker…that’d be weird…but yea.
i dont think its any of these things. i think its just random or something…
its def those who search FOR youi have never typed three of the names into the search bar that appeared, the other two were my best friends.<3
its def those who search FOR you
i have never typed three of the names into the search bar that appeared, the other two were my best friends.
<3
seems like it’s the five people who browse your profile the most, not who search you the most. my five are all people I respect but don’t talk to often, so this is flattering!
seems like it’s the five people who browse your profile the most, not who search you the most.
my five are all people I respect but don’t talk to often, so this is flattering!
I think it’s tricky, because if you think about it you don’t search for people that often, (at least I don’t), it’s more about clicking on links in the news feed. So I don’t even remember who I search for. But I’m gonna with with “who you search for most” theory.
I think it’s tricky, because if you think about it you don’t search for people that often, (at least I don’t), it’s more about clicking on links in the news feed. So I don’t even remember who I search for. But I’m gonna with with “who you search for most” theory.
Yes, but these include people who are only your friends. It doesn’t include those who search you from afar.
FYI it works when you type in a hyphen, apostrophe, and quotation mark as well as for a period. oook I’m done procrastinating
Yes, but these include people who are only your friends. It doesn’t include those who search you from afar.
FYI it works when you type in a hyphen, apostrophe, and quotation mark as well as for a period. oook I’m done procrastinating
is. for sure.
is. for sure.
Definitely neither…
Definitely neither…
nope, definitely isn’t
nope, definitely isn’t
Definitely is who YOU search for the most
Definitely is who YOU search for the most
i got the drop down list when i typed in ‘ or ” or .glitch? and the person at the top of my list i never search for in the search bar, so i support the “person who searches you the most” theory as well.
i got the drop down list when i typed in ‘ or ” or .
glitch? and the person at the top of my list i never search for in the search bar, so i support the “person who searches you the most” theory as well.
i get nothing
i get nothing
or it could be who YOU search for most.-OR
or it could be who YOU search for most.
-OR
that would be awesome b/c 3 of my crushes were on my list
that would be awesome b/c 3 of my crushes were on my list
I get the 4 people who post on my wall most (and whose walls I post most on) and my sister. I believe the “person who searches for you most” theory
I get the 4 people who post on my wall most (and whose walls I post most on) and my sister. I believe the “person who searches for you most” theory