Facebook just got a little bit more like Twitter. The social-media giant this week launched a subscription feature that lets non-friends follow you, a move that may once again draw the ire of privacy watchdogs.
Zach Rait at Facebook set up the introduction by posing what the company sees as a frustrating problem for its members: It hasn’t been easy to choose exactly what you see in your News Feed.
Facebook aims to change all that with its new Subscribe button. In the coming days, you’ll start seeing the Subscribe button in Facebook profiles. You can use it in one of three ways: to choose what you see from people in News Feed, to hear from people, even if you’re not friends, and to let people hear from you, even if you’re not friends.
“The subscribe feature is like the follow button in Twitter. It’s part of a larger effort to accelerate feature upgrades or address complaints in response to competition and specifically Google Plus,” said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. “They’re trying to address any and all reasons users might have for finding fault or deficiency with Facebook. Some of the recent changes are long-standing ‘white board’ issues. Others are more direct responses to features in Google Plus.”
Decluttering Facebook
The first option lets you declutter your News Feed. You can choose to see everything your friend posts, most updates, or only important updates, like a new job or a move. You can also decide what types of updates you see.
“Maybe you don’t want to see every time your brother plays a game on Facebook, for example. Or maybe you’d like to see more stories from your best friends, and fewer from your coworkers,” Rait said. “You also couldn’t hear directly from people you’re interested in but don’t know…
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