Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Facebook Adds Twitter-esque Public Posts

Users can restrict content—or open it to the whole web

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 26, 2009 10:30 AM CDT

(Newser) – In a clear challenge to Twitter, Facebook is testing a system that allows users to publish updates for all the world to see, Wired reports. The new feature technically allows users to restrict their content, allowing, for example, only family to see this photo or only certain friends to see that video. But the default option is to send content to the entire internet, not just Facebook friends, making status updates even more like Twitter posts.

The beta test is currently available to anyone whose profile is set to "public." Facebook has long guarded its users’ info, but this move looks like an attempt to borrow Twitter’s public thunder. It actually allows more control than Twitter, but that comes with a technical cost for Facebook; its servers will now have to track permissions on everything on the site.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg speaks to press and advertising partners at a Facebook announcement in New York in this November 6, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, file)

In this photo illustration the Social networking site Facebook is displayed on a laptop screen on March 25, 2009. (Getty Images)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Mostly, it feels like a feature that the social networking site should have had since the beginning, server load be damned. Which is to say, invent something new already, Facebook. - Ryan Singel

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Yahoo Gets Deeper In Bed With Facebook

Integration will boost traffic on both sites, they hope

(NEWSER) - Yahoo is finally getting seriously social in a new partnership that will integrate Facebook Connect into its many properties. Yahoo users will be able monitor their Facebook feed on Yahoo, and vice versa. The integration will be done “on a deep level,” a Yahoo exec tells Kara Swisher, who finds it ironic in light of the fact that Yahoo almost managed to acquire Facebook for just over $1 billion several years ago. More»

Facebook Refuseniks Still Sorta Use It

They object in principle but end up using it by proxy

(NEWSER) - The Washington Post today profiles an increasingly rare breed: people in their 20s and 30s who don't use Facebook or other such sites. And though the “refuseniks” interviewed have different rationales—privacy, “morals and beliefs,” being “old-school in the personal touch way,” many share something in common that speaks to the pervasiveness of social networking: They use Facebook by proxy. More»

Facebook, Twitter Will Kill Email ... Maybe

Social networking sites have their place, but so does predecessor

(NEWSER) - Email’s had a good run, but its day is done, according to Jessica Vascellaro of the Wall Street Journal. Email is an outdated form of communication, better suited to a time when we logged online and off, she argues. Now that we’re always connected, Twitter and Facebook are faster—and more fun. And, not coincidentally, they’re growing faster, according to the latest Nielsen data. More»

Fickle User Base May Doom Facebook

Users with no brand loyalty are a shaky foundation to build a long-lasting business on

(NEWSER) - These are rosy times for Facebook, but there's no guarantee the social networking juggernaut will even be around 5 years from now, Gary Andrew Poole writes for True/Slant. The newly profitable site is riding high, with 300 million users. But as fallen giants like AOL and veterans of the dot.com implosion attest, "our expectations have changed," Poole writes. "Brand loyalty has diminished and companies tend to go bust much more quickly." More»

Facebook Lite Is Twitteresque, and That's Good

Pages are easier to read and faster to load, but that may not survive advertising

(NEWSER) - As far as Facebook is concerned, the “liter” the better, writes Rafe Needleman for CNET. The site’s scaled-down “Lite” version is now available in the US and India, and the "new layout feels simpler and faster, almost Twitter-like.” Gone is “most of the navigation and info page that was on the left,” leaving users undistracted by the “mostly superfluous details that resided there.” More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Facebook Adds Twitter-esque Public Posts

Users can restrict content—or open it to the whole web

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

social networking • Internet • Facebook • Twitter

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Yahoo Gets Deeper In Bed With Facebook

Integration will boost traffic on both sites, they hope

Facebook Refuseniks Still Sorta Use It

They object in principle but end up using it by proxy

Facebook, Twitter Will Kill Email ... Maybe

Social networking sites have their place, but so does predecessor

Fickle User Base May Doom Facebook

Users with no brand loyalty are a shaky foundation to build a long-lasting business on

Facebook Lite Is Twitteresque, and That's Good

Pages are easier to read and faster to load, but that may not survive advertising

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?