Wajam – The Social Search Engine That Could

Last month, we posted an interview with the co-founder of Wajam, Martin-Luc Archambault. Wajam is a social search engine that allows users to see results from their inquiries based on what their friends and family shared on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Wajam was founded in March of 2009 and currently employs 10 people. Ranging from web developers to designers, Wajam has developed a social search engine that works well and is easy-to-use. 

To explain the concept of Wajam in more detail, it's probably best to give a real world example of when you could use social search to your advantage. 

While planning a trip to New Orleans and browsing reviews on TripAdvisor, I find a coffee shop recommendation from a friend on Twitter. I didn't know this friend had been to New Orleans, and now I can call her up and ask her for more advice.

In addition, Wajam just last week rolled out a brand new feature - location-based results. Location-based results on Google, Bing, and Yahoo allow users to find friends in the city that you are searching for, find places friends have visited or liked, and find pictures taken by friends at the location you're searching for. These location-based results can be useful when searching for things like hotels - you can see what your friends have said about hotels in a city to see if you'd like to stay there as well. 

Wajam will also be making its way to mobile social searching. The company has stated it will be launching a mobile app soon, but no specific timeframe has been given. Social searching on-the-go is certainly something that would make a lot of people interested in Wajam and it would make life easier when you need to find friends' recommendations quickly. 

To begin using Wajam, all you have to do is visit their website, sign in with either Facebook or Twitter, and install a plugin for your web browser that allows social search results to be displayed on top of search result pages on websites like Google. You can also use Wajam without installing the plugin, but you would have to do most of your searching on the company's website itself. 

Wajam supports several social networks, with more being added. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Google Buzz, and Delicious are all supported. In addition, bookmarks can be used for results. All you have to do is authorize your Wajam account with these different services and results will begin flowing in almost immediately. 

And that's Wajam! Have you ever used it? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!