How to search through your own Facebook profile?

July 31, 2009 6:07 AM

Is it possible to search through your own Facebook profile? After having used Facebook for about two years now, I'm wondering: How am I supposed to find e. g. a posted link from a year ago? Sure, I could scroll down my profile and always click on "show older posts" but this is really not the way it should work, should it? Maybe I'm just completely ignorant, but could someone please point out, how you are able to search through the posted contents within your own profile? Thanks, Bjoern
posted by Isdaron to computers & internet (10 answers total)

There is a special section in your profile to show your links and/or notes exclusively. I don't know that you can search it, but it would certainly cut down on the scrolling through. You click on the little boxes under your status update bar. I could be wrong, I am no FB expert (just a pathetic addict).

I am trying to login to my FB to check this, but not getting anywhere. Stupid FB!
posted by bunnycup at 6:34 AM on July 31, 2009

What type of content are you specifically looking for? If it's something like an old status update I wouldn't know how you could search for, aside from narrowing down the results by clicking the "Just YourName" button under the status bar (this only appears if you click the tiny "Options" link under the right hand corner of the status bar).

If you're looking for something like a link you may have shared, you should have a box somewhere - be it on your main profile page or under your "Boxes" tab called "Links" which lists all the links you have posted.

That doesn't sound very clear at all but it may be helpful if someone posts a screenshot or something.
posted by liquorice at 6:34 AM on July 31, 2009

It's more of a filter than a search, but you can always go to the home-page for the Links, Notes, Video, etc. applications. The links I've posted above should take you to a list of "My Friends' Links/Notes/Video", and near the page title there should be a link to "My Links/Notes/Video". This page should have all of your posted links, etc., but you'll still have to look through the list to find what you want.

Unfortunately, I don't know of anything like this for Wall posts or status updates.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:44 AM on July 31, 2009

what the others have said upstream is, in my expereince, accurate..

You're trying to use facebook for something it isn't intended to be used for.... This isn't like a blog in which you can tag entries with key words and search for later..... facebooks functionality as an archive is pretty useless.
posted by HuronBob at 7:07 AM on July 31, 2009

If you're looking for a wall post and you know whose wall you wrote it or who wrote on your wall on you could narrow down the search by going to their Profile and clicking through to "Options" again under the Status bar and clicking on "Wall-to-Wall". Alternatively, that option should be available under any comment someone has made on your profile wall.
posted by liquorice at 7:10 AM on July 31, 2009

Guys, thank you very much for the quick response.

After reading this WIRED articlelast month I was under the impression that Facebook amasses all sort of preferred content by their users - but, hey - if you can't even find your old content yourself, that's sort of disillusioning..

I guess this problem only starts appearing now, when you remember, that some years ago you posted something on Facebook and would like to take a look at it again.

Best, Bjoern
posted by Isdaron at 7:12 AM on July 31, 2009

I think your status updates from a year ago would be long gone (you can only go back so far in "Show Older Posts," I believe), but you could definitely see the links and/or notes you've posted in the past by looking along the sidebar of your profile page and looking for the links/notes and clicking "See All" (these also might be in the Boxes at the top of the page) as liquorice notes above. I've done this in the past and have actually posted certain things to use FB as an archive so I don't have to bookmark them.
posted by pised at 7:22 AM on July 31, 2009

I store a lot of links to quirky stuff on my FB page, but the only way to find something from a year ago is to click on the links box, scroll scroll scroll, and click "next page, next page, next page."

Pretty dumb
posted by KokuRyu at 7:48 AM on July 31, 2009

I store a lot of links to quirky stuff on my FB page, but the only way to find something from a year ago is to click on the links box, scroll scroll scroll, and click "next page, next page, next page."

I use delicious.com to keep track of any bookmarks that I might post on FB. It's an extra few clicks, but worth it.
posted by zarq at 8:46 AM on July 31, 2009

A friend of mine just wrote a facebook app to do just this: http://apps.facebook.com/rneprofilesearch/
posted by aerosolkid at 10:48 AM on July 31, 2009 [2 favorites]