Facebook tests out new feature

Page last updated at 11:41 GMT, Monday, 6 September 2010 12:41 UK

Facebook logo

Facebook has announced it's trying out a new feature.

Called 'subscribe to' it lets users follow their Facebook friends more closely.

Only a limited number of people are being allowed to try it out so the full details of how it works are still unclear.

But in a statement Facebook said: "[Subscribe to] lets [users] subscribe to friends and pages to receive notifications whenever the person they've subscribed to updates their status or posts new content, such as videos photos or links."

As most users know, once a person's got several hundred friends, following them all via the news feed can be difficult and time-consuming.

We are testing this feature with a small percentage of users

Facebook statement

So the idea behind this new feature is that users would be able to 'subscribe to' people they specifically wanted to keep up to date with.

Critics have labelled it a new 'stalker' feature for the social networking giant.

Others say it's merely an attempt to try to capitalise on the popularity of Twitter.

There's no information on when, or even if, the new service will be made available to all of Facebook's 500+ million users.

Bookmark with

What are these?

Print Sponsor

On Newsbeat today

Top stories

See also

Related links

  • Related internet links

    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

Most popular stories now

  1. Huge tornado hits Oklahoma City

  2. Irish potato famine mystery solved

  3. Doors co-founder Ray Manzarek dies

  4. How religions change their mind

  5. Bed sharing 'raises cot death risk'

  1. Compare your club in fans' league table

  2. Search for US tornado survivors

  3. Calculate your inflation rate

  4. Irish potato famine mystery solved

  5. New Xbox readies for video games war

  6. The cassette makes a comeback

  7. UK inflation rate falls to 2.4%

  8. Rooneys announce arrival of baby

  9. UK governments 'hold back Scotland'

  10. Cruise ship runs aground in Oban Bay

  1. Play Cellar opened to reveal 'apocalypse'

  2. Play Oklahoma tornado: Latest reports

  3. Play Huge tornado hits Oklahoma City

  4. Play School run parent unleashes abuse

  5. Play BBC crew finds collapsed bowling alley

Most popular now, in detail

bbc.co.uk navigation

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

TOP NEWS FRONT PAGE STORIES

News feeds | News feeds