Interest Lists: Facebook Unveils New Feature

A new Facebook feature launched on Thursday may leave some users asking, "Is this Twitter?"

"Interest Lists" which, according to a Facebook announcement, will roll out over the next few weeks, allow users to make mini-newsfeeds that include the status updates, posts, pictures and stories only from the people and pages a user has added to a certain topical or "interest" list.

According to a post on Facebook's Newsroom page, "Interest lists can help you turn Facebook into your own personalized newspaper, with special sections—or feeds—for topics that matter to you."

Creating a list will be similar to creating a photo album on Facebook, with a wizard taking users through steps where they choose their friends, "Liked" pages and subscriptions, as well as the people and pages that Facebook recommends. As soon as you create your first list, an "Interests" tab will appear in the left hand column of your Facebook landing page. Your lists will be stored in this tab.

For users who don't want to create their own lists, TechCrunch reports that Facebook will offer pre-curated lists for general and specific topics -- these could be as broad as "Sports" or as narrow as "2012 Presidential Candidates." Users can also choose to follow a list created by a friend, as long as the creator made the list public. For those who don't want to share their lists, there is an option to keep them private.

While Facebook already allowed users to create "smart lists" of friends and subscribe to the public feeds of celebrities and public figures, this is the first time a user can create a list that includes posts from pages, friends' profiles and feeds from the user's favorite celebrity, writes Inside Facebook.

If you think this sounds more like Twitter than Facebook, you're not alone. According to TechCrunch, "The release continues Facebook’s battle to usurp Twitter’s control of the interest graph. The feature combined with Subscribe could be good enough to jeopardize Twitter’s long term growth."

Check out the slideshow (below) to see some images of the new tool in action.

Comments

[DanceF]

07:35 AM on 04/24/2012

In my opinion, main motivation for Fb to create interest lists is to provide additional opportunities to accomplish their promised Reach percentages when brands start leveraging Reach Generator (What is Reach Generator? Essentially high end brands will be able to buy a substantial level of Reach).

[FlowerGypsy]

11:07 PM on 03/11/2012

I don't have a FB and this just sounds like a bit much. I mean, I do think it's AWESOME for if you want to organize your interests. I do acknowledge that it's a useful idea. The problem I have is that you'll end up having too much invested in your FB. Not only will you update about your life, share photos with everyone, connect with people who you wouldn't normally be connected with (such as random folks from back in high school), but you will now have all of your interests logged in the same place! I feel like it is too much of 'you' invested in the abstract place that is the internet.

I like not having a FB because I feel more human. I don't know that it's necessarily a good thing to have all of your interests catalogued in plain sight like that, where all of your acquaintances can read about them. It makes you very 1-D b/c you're just like an open book! Where does it end? I just feel like FB is eventually going to control you so much that you kind of feel lost without it. I think people may start to feel disillusioned by it and dependent on it, as though it is an intrinsic part of their identity.

I also recommend the blog 'mnmlist', he writes about alot of interesting and thought-provoking topics. Here are a few:
http://mnmlist.com/fake-needs/
http://mnmlist.com/digital-vacation/

[BryanNagy]

06:46 PM on 03/09/2012

I love this. It's a great way to get the content you want. I do, however, think they're taking Google+ and Twitter head on. I was able to snag some good snapshots using it on pages. It will definitely be great for businesses:

http://bryannagy.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/facebook-introduces-interest-lists/

[karen lyons kalmenson]

07:41 AM on 03/09/2012

the zuckerbook in perpetual morphmode

[crimghost]

12:26 AM on 03/09/2012

there should be a feature that tells you when you've posted something that may make your dad shoot your laptop.

[Frank-Landfield]

10:22 PM on 03/08/2012

http://www.technologicvehicles.com/en/evenements-ecolos,salons,expos,conferences,courses/164/tour-de-france-electrique

[Mohammad Shadab]

09:49 PM on 03/08/2012

It may be beneficial to all blogger around the world because they can easily create the lists and subscribe to other lists.
http://goo.gl/iazyn

[evilgoogleman]

09:22 PM on 03/08/2012

Meh... FB is really starting to lose the thread.