Note: Video tutorial on using Facebook search is at the end of this post.

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On Monday, Facebook released its new search function to all users (only small groups of people had access before then). Users can now search status updates, links, photos, videos and notes (search is limited to the past 30 days).

You can search within your friends and see who cares about what they’re saying (likes and comments on their updates). You can join these conversations either by commenting and/or liking a particular post.

Why is this such a big deal?

Before this Facebook search capability was available, you could not see the conversation stream.

Now you can see, in real time, who is engaging on topics about your business or non-profit.

It’s almost like Twitter, but not really

You can also see the stream of updates for people who have made their updates public.

This means that you can see who is engaging in relevant conversations, even if you have no connection to them! This is how Twitter works but with one key difference:

Twitter is an open network where “connections” are not required to engage with other users. On Facebook, you can’t engage with users in the stream unless they are your friends (but you could send them a message).

This a huge leap for non-profits who want to measure engagement and connect with potential supporters.

How Non-profits can use the improved Facebook search

What do you think?