Facebook enhances new features

8220;This is an update we have been working on a long time,unrelated to anything else,8221; Facebook product manager Keith Schacht said when asked whether the launch of rival Google in June was a factor behind the recent barrage of Facebook features.

In recent weeks,Facebook has focused on ways for members to better control what information gets shared with whom.

8220;Now,News Feed will act more like your own personal newspaper. You won8217;t have to worry about missing important stuff. All your news will be in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top.

If you haven8217;t visited Facebook for a while,the first things you8217;ll see are top photos and statuses posted while you8217;ve been away. They8217;re marked with an easy-to-spot blue corner8221;.

Those who check Facebook more frequently will see the most recent stories first. Photos will also be bigger and easier to enjoy while you8217;re scrolling through.

Another upgrade is 8220;Ticker,8221; which allows users to see and chat with friends about photos,articles,and other things they8217;re posting in real-time.

8220;Ticker shows you the same stuff you were already seeing on Facebook,but it brings your conversations to life by displaying updates instantaneously.

Now when a friend comments,asks a question or shares something like a check in,you8217;ll be able to join the conversation right away.

Click on anything in ticker to see the full story and chime in 8212; without losing your place,8221; he said.

Facebook users with wider screens can slide the gray bar between ticker and chat up or down to adjust how many updates they see at a time.

To control who can see your updates anywhere on Facebook,including in ticker and News Feed,one can adjust his or her sharing control or apps settings.

The social network has introduced a new Lists feature designed to help people who are uncomfortable with this one-size-fits-all Friends concept.

Lists make it easier for users to control who can see what they post in their updates,and gives them quicker access to the updates they actually want to read.

There already was a Groups feature that lets users categorize people in their network into groups such as friends,colleagues or family,but some users found it confusing and many didn8217;t use it.

The user can add or delete people from these sub-groups,and create their own customized groups.

One8217;s Facebook friends won8217;t know when they8217;ve been added to these sub-categories.

By selecting the close friends list,the user will see a news feed with only the updates from those people,as opposed to the lengthier full news feed,and can post messages only to that group of people.

Putting people in the 8220;acquaintance8221; category will make their updates show up less frequently.

There8217;s a restricted category,and the people in it see only posts and profiles that the user makes public.

Because users can limit posts to specific groups,the new feature solves the problem of posting things for friends or family members that colleagues and potential employers don8217;t need 8212; or even want 8212; to see.

It8217;s similar to the Google Circles,where users can drag and drop people into different circles,and control where their posts go.

Google launched its Google social networking site in June.

Facebook is also adding a 8220;Subscribe8221; feature,where people can get updates from other Facebook members in their news feed even if they8217;re not in their friend network 8212; much in the way people can follow anyone they want on Twitter.

Users can also opt to allow others outside of their friend network to subscribe to their public updates.

These Subscribe feeds can be customised in several ways: To see only photos,for example,or only updates on important events.

8220;We hope these improvements make your conversations on Facebook more lively,no matter how often you visit.