Facebook is the world’s largest and most popular social networking site and is being used by billions of people around the world. However, these people are not always active. Now, with a new “sidebar status” feature, the social network will allow users to show their current status and check if their friends are away or online.
Sidebar feature to keep track
With the help of the new sidebar status feature, the current status of each user will be visible on the sidebar, and they will also be able to keep a track of the current statuses of their friends, i.e., whether they are online or away at present, according to The Verge. The new feature is being tested by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) in Taiwan and Australia according to The Verge.
The status messages put up by users can be accompanied with small picture icons. These picture icons will last up to a maximum of 12 hours or on the posting of a new status by the user, whichever happens earlier. For the sidebar statuses, the default privacy setting by the company is “Users can always alter the privacy settings,” which is presently set to a default that allows friends to view your statuses. All the old status messages of a user are saved by Facebook, but they are visible to none other than the user itself.
Facebook Inc (FB) making easier to connect with loved ones
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) dynamically generates a list of friends with whom a particular user has the most interaction with and puts them under a category named “favorites.” The friends falling under this category will be the ones to see the sidebar status messages most prominently. “People were having a difficult time staying in touch with their friends and seeing what they’re doing on a daily basis,” Sue Young, a Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) product manager, told The Verge.
Young believes that the whole purpose of a social networking site is keeping people connected with the ones who matter to them the most, and the sidebar status will simply ease this task for the users. People will feel connected with each other through these small ways, as for getting an update on the current activities of their favorites, one would simply need to glance through the status sidebar.
