This feature has been out since September 2009, but I still occasionally have people ask me about it. Essentially, this is one of the ways where Facebook set out to mimic a very popular Twitter feature.
The ability to tag your friends when you posted photos, videos and notes is not new. But, with the ability to tag in status updates and other posts you can notify specific people of things you want them to see or read.
WHY USE THE “@” TAGGING FEATURE
Generally, status updates reflect thoughts, activities, or link to interesting things found online. Within these updates, you may want to make sure that certain people see them, or give a “shout out” to someone who provided you with the source material for your status update (but there’s a caveat with that last one … more on that later).
HOW TO USE THE “@” TAGGING FEATURE
It’s simple. If you want to tag a friend’s Facebook profile to something you post, just enter the “@” symbol and start typing that person’s name immediately after (no spaces) the symbol. As you type the name, a drop-down menu will appear that allows you to choose from your list of friends and other connections, including groups, events, applications, and pages. Simply use your cursor to select the correct profile from the list. When you finish writing your post and hit the “Share” button, the “@” symbol will not be displayed in the published status update or post. View the thumbnail image below for an example.
Click image for larger view.
HOW THE FACEBOOK “@” TAGGING FEATURE APPEARS
Profiles you tag in your status updates will receive a notification and a Wall post linking them to your update. They also have the option to remove tags of themselves from your posts. Let’s be clear, your status update will be visible on their wall, meaning that all of their Facebook friends can see your status update.
So, please think ahead before you post something like:
“Hey, I have pictures of @John Smith streaking nude in Tijuana right after our naughty antics in a strip club. Geez, you’d never know he’s getting married in a week!”
If John’s Facebook friends include co-workers, professional peers, family, fiancé, and family of fiancé, then you’ve officially made John’s life incredibly complex. And within days, John might be your new (jobless) roommate.
WHEN NOT TO USE THE FACEBOOK “@” TAGGING FEATURE
When a friend posts an image, video, or other piece of media to their own wall, it will show up in your news feed. Using the “Share” button, you can copy that media to your wall and share it with your friends. The “Share” feature also allows you to write your own intro caption to the post, where you do have the ability to use the “@” tagging feature. Except here’s the thing … don’t.
If you write “I got this great video from @John Smith” then your post, including the video, will appear on John’s wall. Meaning, the video will appear twice on his wall. Once when he posted it, and again when you tagged him in your post. This clutters John’s wall with redundant material, and really … hasn’t he suffered enough because of you?
That’s it. Tagging in status updates is a very useful feature, but it does have it’s drawbacks and potential for mischief. I hope this is useful to all of you!
