REUTERS/Thierry Roge
Have a friend that you want to keep tabs on all of the time? Well, Facebook might be able to help you with that.
Mashable reports that Facebook is testing a new feature among a small number of users, which would allow you to subscribe to a particular Facebook friend. Subscribing allows you to be notified anytime the friend updated their status, added photos, or posted other content to their page. Dubbed the “stalker button” by Mashable, they’ve also reported that it’s not clear yet whether this will be an opt-in option if widely installed.
So just how creepy is this feature? On the one hand, you’re subscribing to a person who is already on your friend list—so it’s not as if you are suddenly privy to anything you wouldn’t normally have access to. And for people who very rarely use Facebook but would like to know when close friends or family are doing something of note, it could be quite handy.
But on the other hand, as Mashable points out, the constant updates could have unsavory consequences if used by “jealous ‘frenemies,’ vindictive exes or nosy bosses.” (Who doesn’t have at least one of these types as a friend on Facebook?)
And do we really need to follow someone—even a friend—that closely?