Facebook Testing Sidebar Status Messages on Mobile

Facebook is testing a new feature called 'Sidebar Status' which lets users post a short message to let their friends know what they are up to. The feature is called Sidebar Status because the status message is only visible when users bring up the sidebar in the Facebook app that lists friends in the order users most often chat with.

The social networking giant is currently testing the Sidebar Status feature in Australia and Taiwan region. Using the feature, Facebook app users can set a Sidebar Status alongside a small icon (Facebook has provided several options) and a location tag. The Sidebar Status is being compared to the 'away message' more common in the last decade.

The Verge, which first spotted the feature, adds that the Sidebar Status expires in 12 hours. The Sidebar Status messages will appear prominently on the user's 'Favourite' list, which is dynamically generated based on who the user texts and how often. While messages are visible from all friends, those most messaged are brought to the top. Users can also set their privacy settings to control who sees their Sidebar Status messages.

"People were having a difficult time staying in touch with their friends and seeing what they're doing on a daily basis," Sue Young, a Facebook product manager, said in an interview to The Verge. "Now when I visit the sidebar, I can get an instant pulse of what all my friends are doing," she said.

Facebook last week unveiled a standalone Web version of its Messenger, with the launch of the Messenger.com website. The Web version is currently available in English only and support for more languages will come in future. It is also being speculated that the company could soon launch a desktop client as well. To get started, users can log onto Messenger.com with their Facebook account, and all the existing chats will appear. Users can also make audio and video calls from the top right menu bar.