Facebook testing "announce important post" feature

Facebook has confirmed it is trialling a feature that would allow users to shove posts into friends' faces make sure their posts are seen by all their friends. Reports of a similar feature emerged last May, when Facebook trialled a paid post-highlighting service in New Zealand. Reg reader Andrew N Green from Adelaide has just …

[tkioz]

Oh yeah this wont be abused to hell and back...

I can just see it now, my damn sister that "tags" me and her entire friends list in every photo see posts (never mind she's never posted one that I'm actually in), will "announce" every single one of her status updates...

/sigh

[Pascal Monett]

Spot on !

Given that FaceBook is already full of twats who are full of themselves, this will immediately become the standard way of shouting their oh-so-important "news" so that they can feel even more important about themselves.

[Anonymous Coward]

God no

Not only do I have to wade through so many ultra boring posts from ultra boring people but now they will be able to flash me more from their uninteresting uneventful sad little lives describing every minutae.... and I won't be able to avoid it.

Hi I'm at the shops

Oh just sat down to watch Jeremy Kyle

The dog just barked

Lol I just spilt a glass of water

Pop ups are bad enough when on the web, this will make it ten times worse.

[Keith 21]

Re: God no

Umm, if their posts are so boring, then unfriendly them and you won't be bothered by them again!

It really is that simple.

[tkioz]

Re: Unfriend them

Err mate do you have family?

I've got people on my "friends list" that I have permanently ignored (they [b]still[/b] manage to annoy the hell out of me with invites and other stupid shit), but I don't dare unfriend them, because it not worth the real life shitstorm that will come from such an action. The last thing I want is my sister ringing me to find out why I unfriended or worst still my mother wanting to know why I unfriended my sister... or hell or my best friend wanting to know why I unfriended his annoying cow of a girlfriend.

The annoyance of their actions pales in comparison the real-life annoyances of unfriending them.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Unfriend them

Yes, I have a family.

I also have a backbone and a mind of my own...

[tkioz]

Re: backbone

It has nothing to do with backbone, it has to do with conflict avoidance. Are you telling me you never practice it? Never listen to annoying story your boss has told 30 bloody times and just smile and nod? Never?

It comes down "What is more annoying, the facebook spam, or dealing with the hissy fit they'll throw in real life"?

[bailey86]

Re: Unfriend them - agreed

Agreed.

That's why I find Google Plus so much better - you can take people in/out of your circles and they don't know anything.

Also, you can share stuff with people even if they only have an email address.

[TakeTheSkyRoad]

Re: Unfriend them - agreed

"Also, you can share stuff with people even if they only have an email address."

That bit doesn't sound better.... sounds like someone "sharing" something with me from Google Plus via email spam. A win and a fail

[Stephen Baines]

Announce

Yeah, it's been there since the weekend. I can't think that any of my drivle is so important I'd have to announce it. Only available via the web browser version, it's not there if you use the Facebook app on iPad or iPhone.

[Anonymous Coward]

Look at me, look at me

Don't look at him, look at me.

How sad can that s*ite get?

[Anonymous Coward]

"do you want to Announcement this post"

All your base...

OR

Will "Announcement" become a verb in the great US tradition?

[Chris Miller]

Re: "do you want to Announcement this post"

Surely that should be 'Announcementise'?

[Kristian Walsh]

Gah.

Okay, English does have a long history of adopting nouns as verbs (off the top of my head, I can think of: telephone, post, shovel, staple, box), but usually when there isn't already a verb for the action. "Announcement" is already the opposite kind: a noun formed from an older verb.

From the people who brought you "to unlike", however, we can Expectation nothing less... There's a special kind of moronic illiteracy that only an expensive business education can bring.

[Nigel Brown]

I wondered what George W was doing since he left office

The only thing that man can be admired for, his unique interpretation of the English language.

[Goat Jam]

Re: I wondered what George W was doing since he left office

I think we all agree, the past is over.

[Asiren]

Balls

So the curious tidbits from interesting people will get drowned out by the drivel from the self-important idiots.

Well, I guess that's one way to choose who to block/unfriend...

[BikePics]

Promote for Like Pages

I run a Facebook page for people who have Liked a web site I operate and last Wednesday (30th May) I noticed a new link when I post info on that page saying ‘Promote’. When clicked it pops up a window saying ‘Get more people who like your Page to see this post.’

[Charlie Clark]

Re: Promote for Like Pages

I run a Facebook page for people who have Liked a web site...

I think there is a "c" missing somewhere! ;-)

[Goat Jam]

Re: Promote for Like Pages

"I run a Facebook page for people who have Liked a web site"

I must be getting old because I don't have any idea what that sentence means.

[Liam O'Hagan]

Highlight

I had a similar option to 'highlight' a post from my home PC earlier this week. I clicked it and it asked if I wanted to pay some amount of money ($2.50ish) to do what this announce feature seems to do.

I haven't seen it since.

[Senior Ugli]

meh its kinda clever in a way, if some people are stupid enough to buy facebook credits to play farmville, whats to say they wont pay so that can force everyone to see there slutty night out photos or new dog in a bag?

[DZ-Jay]

"Trialing"?

Did you know that "trial" is the noun form of the verb "to try"?

-dZ.

[Eguro]

Hmm

I wonder which takes precedence, the "unsubscribe to posts from this user" or this "announcement" thing...

[JDX]

Hey Morons

All you who are whinging about how their friends spam them with dross, and dread this feature making it even worse...

YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CHOSE TO BE FRIENDS WITH THEM!

Says more about your circle of friends, or desperation to have some 'friends', than anything else.

[Andrew James]

Re: Hey Morons

I have some "friends" who are decent people, family even, and I'm interested in what they are up to etc, but often the pump out so much rubbish that i block them, and just check out their profile when I can be bothered. The hassle that goes along with un-Friending a close personal friend or family member just isnt worth it.

[MrZoolook]

Re: Hey Morons

Quote: The hassle that goes along with un-Friending a close personal friend or family member just isnt worth it.

Grow a spine. If you hate their s*it so much, tell them to quit posting it or use the tools available on Facebook to prevent their posts from bothering you. You don't even need to unfriend or block them you know. If you spent any time using FB instead of just bemoaning it, you'd have spotted how to block certain types of posts from specific people.

Of course, that requires a bit more effort then just complaining about the evils of Facebook. I just wish El Reg had the same flexibility to block annoying posters frankly!

[JDX]

Re: Hey Morons

Also:

1)they don't get notified when you unfriend them

2)you can selectively choose which things you get notified about, to cut out a good chunk of dross

Of course when people you genuinely like post too much crud, you could start commenting on it and moan - they might stop or they might unfriend you, either being a net win!

[John Brown (no body)]

Monitising Facebook

Look at all the commercial websites Facebook users "friend" to get discounts/info/vouchers etc.

Now those advertisers can pay to shove more "messages" in front of the users faces.

I doubt many normal (hah!) users will pay to have their important message highlighted for all of their "friends", but advertisers will.

[min]

slutty nights out and photos??

damn. i have the wrong facebook friends.

since i already log into fb as infrequently as i go to the high street shopping, i cannot see that changing any time soon.

but i am sure there'll be plenty dying to make use of this new 'tool'. tools.

[Anonymous Coward]

All together now...

So, it's no more than Spam spam spam, spammitty spam?

[Anonymous Coward 15]

Re: All together now...

Baked beans are off!

[This Side Up]

It'll be like email

Anything with "Urgent" in the subject goes straight into the spam bin.

[Graham Marsden]

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Actually it isn't, but you can look forward to lots of these from idiots who think that their every status update is the most important thing ever...

[JDX]

Re: THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Except they have to pay for the feature. So only your really rich friends will be able to adopt this stratagem. In which case either you're an idiot for being friends with that type of person, or you're friends with them for their money and deserve what you get.

[Jolyon Smith]

Announce/Announcement

Up until recently this feature was called "Highlight".

When you Highlight something you get a Highlight.

When you Announce something you get an Announcement.

My guess is that when they changed the string tables used for the various labels/descriptors of this thing, one of the entries in the string table was being used in both verb and noun contexts, which wasn't noticed when the verb and noun were the same thing but which does show up as incongruous in the verb context now that the entry is labelled as a noun.

[Solanum]

Monetisation.

Well, I'm in Aus too and a few days ago 'highlight' appeared. I used it once to see what it did and it said that the normal cost was GBP4.79, but it was currently free. I tried it a second time yesterday and it wanted me to pay the GBP4.79. Obviously I didn't use it! So I guess they are looking at a new income stream. Didn't take long... I cannot imagine a normal user paying that sort of money to highlight a post, so I guess it is aimed at businesses pushing themselves up your screen ala Google. One weirdness is asking me to pay in pounds when I live in Aus...