Friendly search

Infobox Software
name = “Friendly Seach”


caption = The Visualization Search Tool
developer = Heiko Waechter & Jason Smale
latest_release_date = Jul 1, 2007
operating_system = Mac OS X, Windows, iPhone
genre = Facebook application
license = Proprietary
website = [http://rmitedu.facebook.com/apps/application.php?api_key=cd1ae088816a033c803638c56e1dbdce]

Friendly Search is an application that has been built on top of the popular social networking website Facebook. It was made available to the public as of August, 2007.

Friendly Search provides a visualization tool for Facebook users to search, sort & their friends. Instead of scrolling through pages of friends via the Facebook friends feature, users can now have all of their friends displayed on one page and can navigate visually through them. Currently, Friendly Search only supports images but we would like to see it extend its features to accommodate other media formats such as video, music, text and plenty more.

Since its introduction in August 2007, Friendly Search has accumulated over 900 users and is continuing to grow slowly but steadily. Whilst the Friendly Search user base may seem small in comparison to some other applications on Facebook, it certainly has the potential of being an application that will stand out in the long run. This is simply because it is superior in being the easiest and sexiest way for users to navigate their Facebook friends.

Operations

Friendly Search is a free application for users and is not involved in any revenue-generating activity at this point in time. Some options for the future may be the introduction of some form of advertising, such as banner ads or sponsored groups, following the path that many other Facebook applications have taken.
Facebook users can add Friendly Search by simply browsing through the list of new applications on Facebook, or alternatively, they can get it from other friends already using the application.

Friendly Search comes in two view modes. The first is the full view mode, which shows a full view of the application in a large screen. The second is the mini view mode, which is simply a mini view of the application, which appears on users’ profile page. The power of the mini view mode is that users and their friends, can search for friends directly from their profile page, minimizing the time and hassle involved from having to load another page.

Much of the power of Friendly Search comes from the ing options available. These include the ability to sort users by name (in the standard search bar), as well as by network, country and sex. The Friendly Search ing system is extremely accurate and easy to use. It provides for a visually stimulating experience, as the images move based on the users’ search decisions.

Origins and expansion

Friendly Search was founded by two young Australians - Heiko Waechter and Jason Smale. Whilst attending RMIT in 2005, Heiko developed a software that would allow him to visually sort and organize his own personal music collection, for which he had a great passion. It was not until a year later, whilst working with the Deloitte Innovation team, that the true potential of the software was recognized. Now, with the help of Jason and the team, the software has been ported to the popular Facebook network list of growing applications.

According to the duo however, with the help of the Deloitte Innovation Team, they are aiming for something much bigger than just a Facebook application. Perhaps something that may help to revolutionize the world of internet searching…

News & Rumors

There is a rumor that the funky Friendly Search technology will expand beyond its current state in the near future, to support other datasets, such as video, music, text and who knows what else! We’ll just have to wait and see…

See also

* Facebook
* Myspace
* Social network service
* List of social networking websites
* Use of social network websites in investigations

External links

* [http://rmitedu.facebook.com/apps/application.php?api_key=cd1ae088816a033c803638c56e1dbdce Friendly Search]
* [http://blog.facebook.com The Official Facebook Blog]
* [http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720247750 Heiko Waechter]
* [http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692436399 Jason Smale]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-O8ac4-eiQ Friendly Search video]