Facebook Pilots Read Receipts Feature for Events

Facebook has started piloting a new feature that will allow hosts to check whether invitees have seen event invitations or not. Additionally, Facebook will now start push notifications via Chrome for mobile Web users.

The new read receipts feature has already been introduced to several messaging platforms such as WhatsApp as well as the Messenger standalone app. A Facebook spokesperson told Daily Dot, "We're piloting the ability for private event hosts and guests to know whether their friends they invited have seen the event."

The new read receipts feature for Facebook Events will give hosts a better idea of who all are expected to attend an event. The website notes that similar to Facebook's read receipts on other platforms, there is no way to opt out of the confirmations in Events. It will also make it harder for invitees to pretend they never saw the invitation. A Twitter user has shared an image (see below) of the read receipt feature in Facebook Events.

In other news, Facebook has announced that push notifications from the social platform are now supported in Chrome and users can opt in to receive them via m.facebook.com. When signed in via Chrome on mobile, the browser will ask users for push notifications from Facebook. The move will put Facebook for Mobile on par with its apps in terms of engagement, though the problem of duplicate notifications was reportedly difficult to overcome.

Chrome introduced the push notifications to its browser back in April and had announced that it was working with few companies that will start supporting push notifications.

Facebook's Product Manager on Browser Partnerships Jonathan McKay told TechCrunch, "We've seen an increase in visitation from launching push notifications." Adding further on push notifications on Chrome, he explained that it's "a great lever for re-engagement to the site ...people who might not use Facebook as much".

"This is pushing the best content out to them so they don't have to proactively go to the service," he added. The TechCrunch report adds that the partnership of Facebook and Google engineers to get the feature working was mutually beneficial, with the social network getting an optimised experience for its users, and the Internet giant getting data on issues related to the scale of the social network.

The new push notifications can be useful for users in emerging markets where users rely more on mobile Web browser experience rather than installing the app. A Google spokesperson noted to TechCrunch that the firm's Web push notifications standard also already been adopted by Opera, and will be adopted by Firefox by November.