Earlier this month, social media giant Facebook announced tools that would allow users to see how much time they have spent on the app. Well now, Facebook has started testing a new feature that it thinks will help non-friends connect with each other on the platform.
In a statement to CNET, Facebook has confirmed that it has started testing a new label – called “things in common” – to help connect non-friends on its platform. As the name suggests, this label will show a user what he has in common with other user who isn’t friends with him on Facebook.
This label will be displayed above a user’s name in the comments section of a public conversation, like a a page of a brand or a publisher. If a user who has left a comment has anything in common with you, it will be displayed on the label above his name. For example, if you and the other user you are not Facebook friends with is from the same city or have studied in the same university you have, it will be displayed on this “things in common” label above his name.
That said, Facebook has also assured that only the information that has been made available publicly by the users will be displayed on this label. Moreover, this label will also adhere to the users’ audience and privacy settings, meaning if you are not able to see someone’s current city or education details on his profile, you will not see them on this label either.
Facebook has said that this feature is currently only being tested in the US, with no details shared about its roll-out in other countries.
“Knowing shared things in common helps people connect. We’re testing adding a ‘things in common’ label that will appear above comments from people who you’re not friends with but you might have something in common with.” a Facebook spokeswoman told CNET in a statement.
Personally speaking, we don’t think seeing a person having something in common with us would encourage us to be friends with that person on Facebook, unless we have met in real life. However, humans do have a tendency to connect quickly with someone who has something in common with them, hence, this feature could actually help non-friends connect with each other on Facebook. What are your thoughts on this new feature? Sound-off in the comments section down below.
