Avid users of MSN Messenger and other instant messaging services that were popular before Facebook and Twitter will remember the ‘away’ message. And years after it was popular, Facebook is bringing back short updates in a new form – the ‘Sidebar status’. The feature lets users post a short message about what they are doing in a sidebar added to the social network’s mobile app, complete with an illustrative picture, but it's currently only available to selected people for testing. Facebook's Sidebar status feature (pictured) will let users post a short message about what they are doing in a sidebar added to the social network’s mobile app, complete with an illustrative picture . The sidebar can be accessed by swiping right on the screen and brings up a user’s most messaged friends. A Facebook spokesman told MailOnline: ‘Millions of people already use the sidebar to quickly find and contact their friends. ‘We're testing new features in this space that let you and your friends stay up to date on all the things that make up your day.’ The sidebar can be accessed by swiping right on the screen (news Feed pictured left) and brings up a user’s most messaged friends. Here, they can see short updates such as 'making blueberry scones at home' and 'watching the game at home' (right) Facebook has started collecting information about the other websites users visit, the links they click on and their searches. The social media site already harvests details people share on their profiles, including where they went to school, their interests and where they live. But under a new privacy policy – to which anyone who has signed into Facebook since February has been opted in automatically – it can track activity outside the website, including online searches and some of the details users share with retailers. A Facebook spokesman said: ‘It takes into account pages and places visited on Facebook, alongside browsing on the internet.’ She added that the changes help Facebook 'to better serve more relevant advertising to you.' The site uses cookies – small files which it places on your web browser or device – to collect information which can then be transmitted back to Facebook. The new terms were introduced as part of a wider update to Facebook's privacy policy, which - the social network claimed - was designed to make the rules easier to understand. Facebook is testing the service in Taiwan and Australia, where from today, users of the app will see short status messages under their friends’ names, The Verge reported. Users can choose from an array of small pictures, such as a bicycle or coffee cup, for example, to go with their status. As well as the addition of the images, the sidebar updates differ from a regular status updates because they don’t show up in the main News Feed. They can just be seen in the sidebar and expire after 12 hours – allowing only the person who posted them to access them again. While the updates are visible to friends, users can change the privacy settings to determine who sees an update. The comparison of the old ‘away’ messages has been drawn because of the small square images and the fact they will be sent to only close friends, despite the fact that we are rarely away from phones and computers now-a-days. For many people, Facebook’s main News Feed hosts information from a large number of contacts and brands as well as friends, and the social network has heard from its users that people want a place to see and share smaller updates too. The idea is that the sidebar is a quick way to keep friends in the loop of what a user is doing and vice versa. Users can choose from an array of small pictures, such as a bicycle or coffee cup, for example, to go with their status (pictured left) and add a location tag (pictured right)
Sidebar status is being trialled by Facebook in Taiwan and Australia.
Feature lets users write a brief update to share with close friends.
Such notes last for 12 hours and can be seen in the sidebar of the app.
Users can choose from a number of square tiles to illustrate their message.