Facebook unveils the new Sidebar chat

About one minute ago, Facebook unveiled the new Sidebar chat system. I’ve got a glimpse of what it is. And here’s what you need to know about this new change.

Facebook has been competing with Google recently and as a  positive sign, this new Sidebar chat came into picture. The new sidebar chat lets you quickly contact your friends who messaged you the most. Your most conversed friends will be staying in the sidebar despite the regular bottom page chat window. Facebook has put a separate page explaining this feature. According to the page, the new sidebar is:

The sidebar lets you quickly contact some of the friends you message most. Just clicking on a friend’s name opens a chat window. If your friend isn’t available to chat, you can still send messages for them to read later.

 

What if you want to add a friend to the sidebar?

To message someone who isn’t listed in your sidebar, just type your friend’s name in the search box at the bottom of the list. Clicking on a friend’s name opens a chat window. If your friend isn’t available to chat, you can still send messages for them to read later.

This clearly shows that Facebook is ready to fightback Google+. Let’s see how things shape up in future. I’ll keep you posted about the changes. Until then, feel free to subscribe to my RSS or follow me on twitter (@ImKarthikK)

  • Anbu

    Wasn’t this new chat sidebar released the day they released video chat?

  • Tejaswin

    A good move. Hopefully facebook has been hit by everyone seeming to like G+ more. FB should really buck up with some features that will ease out social networking which G+ is seeming to be very good at right from the start. I’m hoping to see alot more from FB for it to dominate over G+. For now, I’m quite neutral so I’m not taking any sides. But I would love to see some tough visible competition between the two social networking sites. Microsoft is not even in the picture! I have a very strong gut feeling that they’re site is not going to do good at all! Lets wait and watch!

    • Yeah. The battle is really big. And let’s see how things goes. And Google has got some bigger plans too. My POC at Facebook is not available currently.

  • Nikola

    I don’t get it. This is completely useless for me. I don’t want fb to make list for me. I want to know who is online when i enter the chat, i want to make my list. This is very frustrating and poorly made.

    • Tejaswin

      I think there should be an option to disable that feature then, no?

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