By: Aseem Gaurav on June 10, 2011
Facebook has started testing a new real-time feature called the “Happening Now” in a sidebar to the right of news feeds.
The new feature displays things like recent comments, a list of what their friends are sharing and check-in notifications. So far the feature is available to a very limited group of users.
The real-time sidebar is seen by many as an initiative of Facebook to integrate instant social networking.
"We are currently testing a feature within News Feed that gives people the ability to see what their friends are commenting on and 'liking,' as these actions are being taken on Facebook. This test includes a small percentage of Facebook users, just a fraction of a percent. In the coming weeks, as we learn more from this test, we’ll keep making improvements and may expand it to more people," Facebook wrote in its blog.
A significant feature of the “Happening Now” sidebar is that it allows users to view how their friends interact within the Facebook network without leaving the main newsfeed.
However, users have noticed that there is a problem of double posting of information between the main News Feed and the Happening Now section, which hopefully the company will work out over time.
It is now in the preliminary phase of the rollout so it is not visible to all the users.
