How to Look Up Friends on Facebook by Graduation Year
By Ryan Menezes
"Graduation year" was a part of Facebook's search tool in the site's earliest days, back when it accepted college students exclusively. Though Facebook later dropped its advanced search tool, Graph Search, which the site introduced in 2013, once again lists users who graduated in a given year. This tool can find your classmates or can locate people who are approximately the same age as you. Graph Search places your current friends first in search results, but it also displays other users that you can add as friends.
Step 1
Open Facebook's Graph Search page (link in Resources). Click "Join Waiting List" to add Graph Search to your profile within a few days (see Tips).
Step 2
Type "people who graduated in" in the Facebook search bar at the top of the page.
Step 3
Type a year, and then press "Enter" to run the search.
Step 4
Scroll through the search results to find friends by graduation year. Optionally, refine the search using the drop-down boxes on the right side of the page, choosing a particular school or assigning other criteria.
References
Tips
- As of publication, Graph Search is in a limited preview for desktop use only; however, after you click "Join Waiting List," you'll likely see the tool on your profile within just a few days.
- According to Facebook, the service will be available for mobile devices "later in 2013."
- If you're searching for friends who have not yet graduated, you can still use the phrase "people who graduated in." For example, "people who graduated in 2016" returns people who will graduate in 2016.
Writer Bio
Ryan Menezes is a professional writer and blogger. He has a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Boston University and has written for the American Civil Liberties Union, the marketing firm InSegment and the project management service Assembla. He is also a member of Mensa and the American Parliamentary Debate Association.