Ugh, Facebook, don't give us even more tabs
Facebook constantly tweaks its user experience to give its members what they want, but the latest update is sure to drive pop-up haters, i.e. everyone, up the wall.
We spotted a new feature Friday that threads comment replies into a new pop-up window, just like the separate conversation tabs used for chatting with friends on Messenger when you have your News Feed open. That type of instant access might be useful if you're deeply entrenched in a comment war, but in just about any other circumstance, it's intrusive and demanding.
The new update was first spotted by Mashable Tech Editor and resident Top Gun expert Pete Pachal. When his A+ comment referencing Maverick received a reply, the new conversation tab popped up at the bottom of his News Feed.
I haven't seen the feature on my profile yet, but after asking around Mashable HQ, we found a few more Facebookers with the new conversation windows.
A Facebook rep confirmed via email that the feature is being rolled out more broadly to desktop users, so if you don't have it yet, you will soon.
“We've heard from people that they would like an easier way to participate in conversations on a post while they are still in News Feed so we are rolling out a new option that opens up a window when someone comments on your post, replies to your comment or tags you in a comment," they said.
Thankfully, the rep also told us that you can hide the new conversations and shut off notifications in the dropdown menu of each post. It's an extra step to keep comments from popping up -- but at least you'll be able to scroll through your News Feed in peace.
Topics Facebook
Brett Williams is a Tech Reporter at Mashable. He writes about tech news, trends and other tangentially related topics with a particular interest in wearables and exercise tech. Prior to Mashable, he wrote for Inked Magazine and Thrillist. Brett's work has also appeared on Fusion and AskMen, to name a few. You can follow Brett on Twitter @bdwilliams910.
