Earlier today, Gawker.com posted an apparent way to see the five people who search for you most often on Facebook. Some glitch, bug, (or intentional feature) caused five names to pop up when you push the down arrow on your keyboard while the cursor is in the search box.
Update, 3:57 p.m.: Facebook seems to have closed off the down-arrow thing, but try entering “.” in your search box. The results seem to be the same.
Since it was posted around 1 p.m., the post has received more than 200 comments and counting.
Here’s what popped up on my account, in order:
- A random boy who I briefly had a crush on back in Winter Quarter. I’d forgotten about him until now… but it appears he might not have forgotten about me. If this whole hullaballoo is true, that is. The appearance of this name is the most convincing evidence for me that these are people searching for you, since I haven’t searched this name frequently or recently.
- My BFF and future roommate. This could go either way, since we both probably search for each other somewhat frequently.
- My current roomie. Since she’s awesome, I know I search for her occasionally, and I’d guess she does the same for me. Again, inconclusive.
- My editor…hmm. This is interesting. I wouldn’t have picked her out as someone I search for often on Facebook, or as someone who searches for me on Facebook. But it’s plausible, and could go either way.
- Another boy…sigh! Someone who I search for with some frequency, probably too much frequency, but would be surprised if he was searching for me. Surprised, but delighted, I might add.
From this list, I can say somewhat conclusively that these are not the five people you search for most often. The evidence? My best friend from home, who I know I search more often than most if not all of these people, is markedly absent from the list. And someone who I search for hardly or never is present. The mystery thickens..what significance do these five people have? One commenter hypothesized that it is “matching the frequency of times that you search for someone with the frequency of times that people search for you,” which may in fact be the most plausible theory.
Another commenter corroborated this, citing a supposed “canned response” from a Facebook employee, which stated that the five names are the people Facebook assumes you would be most interested in, taking various factors into account.