New Social Search Engine Booshaka Takes Facebook Updates to the Next Level
Booshaka!, a brand new social search engine for Facebook, has now launched its Trend Engine, which gives users access to the hottest topics mentioned on Facebook in real time. Booshaka joins other social search engines like Sentimnt as this emerging market breaks open.
The company refers to its service as “organizing and curating public Facebook content.” Booshaka chooses what is trending based on three categories: what’s most popular, what has the most buzz and what is the most recent. Popularity comes from the number of likes and comments a Facebook post has. Buzz comes from what Booshaka refers to as a “secret calculation,” and most obviously, recent posts are those that are most current. Users can sort their search results based on which category is most important to them.
Alternatively, you can type a keyword into the Booshaka search engine to see what people on Facebook are saying about it. Want to know what Facebook users are posting about Barack Obama? Type his name in the search engine. For those who don’t know what they want to know, Booshaka also allows you to browse through their topics and subtopics, like News, Movies and Travel. If there is a particular topic or subtopic you like, you can subscribe to get updates on related Facebook posts, all powered by Booshaka.
Booshaka is not alone in the world of social search engines. Sentimnt is a new service that searches through social media accounts to help users remember where they read certain pieces of information. The biggest difference between Sentimnt and Booshaka seems to be this: Sentimnt focuses on a personalized experience, while Booshaka emphasizes fresh, buzzworthy information. Sentimnt combs through your own Twitter, Facebook and other accounts to dig up information you’ve already read, and Booshaka helps you research what you don’t know in the huge public forum of Facebook. Booshaka also lets you interact with the content — you can like or tweet the information you find.
Both companies, though, have plans to expand their service and reach more social media sources. Sentimnt has invited users to suggest ideas for Websites they can add to their search list, and Booshaka plans to integrate at least Twitter and Foursquare in the future. Interestingly, Booshaka might take a cue from Sentimnt — “personalization” is currently one of the company’s service goals.
Other social search engines include WhosTalkin, whose public beta Website lets you search for conversations about certain topics — though the site is not as well organized or categorized as Booshaka’s. Social searcher BlogCatalog is also less effective since it only caters to bloggers.
Generalized search engines are apparently no longer enough, and these social search options are here to fill the void. Social media has taken over the personal internet experience, so it’s only natural that “googles” for Facebook, Twitter and other Websites follow. We’ll just have to wait and see which social engines have the most appealing perks.
