Facebook Testing a 'Stalker Button'
New feature lets users subscribe to friends to learn about new activity.
Sept. 3, 2010— -- Facebook is apparently testing a new subscription feature that would allow users to receive alerts any time a specific friend takes certain actions on the social network.
AllFacebook reports that it has noticed the new feature popping up on friends' profiles. Facebook told the blog, "This feature is being tested with a small percent of users. It lets people subscribe to friends and pages to receive notifications whenever the person they've subscribed to updates their status or posts new content (photos, videos, links or notes)."
In other words, when you click to subscribe to a user, you'll get a new Facebook notification in your notifications bar at the top of the site or on the mobile device of your choosing any time that other user posts content.
We're not sure yet if you can subscribe to someone who's not a friend, which is much more stalker-like, or if notifications include likes and comments (right now, it sounds like they won't).
We at Mashable are hoping this is an opt-in (or at least an opt-out) feature.
If Facebook thinks subscriptions are a useful for the majority of average users, people who might want to get special notifications for family members' or loved ones' activities, they're also potentially damaging if rolled out to jealous "frenemies," vindictive exes or nosy bosses.
What do you think of the "subscribe" button? Is there anyone in your life you'd subscribe to? What about others subscribing to you — would you like or dislike that feature?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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