The Facebook Blog

Since we launched Facebook Chat, many of you have asked for ways to organize your connections and to control which friends see you online. Maybe you want to be online with your best friends but offline with your work colleagues. You can now do that by using Friend Lists to filter your connections in Chat.

Friend Lists let you group friends to more easily share with and view information from specific sets of people. You already can use them to filter your home page, send Inbox messages and manage privacy settings.

From the bottom right corner of... your browser, go online with Chat and choose which lists you'd like to include in the Chat pane. You can use your existing lists or create new lists directly from Chat.

Creating Lists
To create a new list, simply select the "Friend Lists" menu on the Chat pane, enter a new list name, and drag the names of people you want to include into the list. You can exclude lists from Chat by unchecking them in the "Friend Lists" menu. If you don't want your friends grouped in Chat at all, you can simply uncheck all the Friend Lists, and you'll then see your friends listed alphabetically.



If some of your friends aren't in a Friend List yet, they'll be included under "Other Friends."

Going Offline
Alongside each list, you'll notice a green switch; when you turn off the switch, you'll be logging off of Chat for that list. Friends in lists that are switched off will not be able to see that you are online or chat with you, nor will you be able to see whether they are online.



Friend Lists are useful in organizing and filtering your experience on Facebook, especially as you have more friends from different parts of your life. To learn about other ways to use them on the site, watch this recent video tutorial.


Rob, a designer at Facebook, will see you online...or maybe not.

Notifications let you know when people take actions on Facebook related to you, so you can quickly check out a photo you've been tagged in or read a new posting on your Wall. They already are available from your home page or from the notifications icon within the Facebook Chat bar at the bottom of your browser, but we want to make sure you know immediately when your friends are sharing something new with you.

Beginning today, when you are online with Facebook Chat, entire notifications will appear automatically and in real time above the Chat... bar as pop-up alerts. For instance, if a friend has written on your wall, you'll see a new notification appear like this:



After a few seconds, the notification will automatically disappear, but you'll still be able to see a list of all of your notifications when you click on the notifications icon. You'll also continue to see a count of all the notifications you've not yet viewed, indicated in red.



A common use of notifications with applications on Facebook is for multi-player gaming. For example, when you're playing a game and take your turn, your opponent receives a notification so they know to take their turn. The immediate notifications can help you play a game faster.

You can turn off specific types of notifications if you don't want to receive them. When a notification appears, click the "X" to close it. You then will be asked if you want to permanently turn off future notifications of that same type. For example, if you choose to permanently delete a notification about posted links, you won't receive any future notifications about posted links from your friends.


Arjun, an engineer at Facebook, can't wait to see what pops up after this post.

A few months ago, I was thinking about my mother when, at one of our engineering hackathons, I began working on ideas for how to highlight more of the important people in my life. You already could specify if you were in a romantic relationship with someone, so why not also be able to list your parents, children and siblings?

In celebration of Mother's Day on Sunday in the United States and many other countries, we decided to polish off that hackathon code and launch the option for listing your family on your Facebook profile.

Starting later... today and through this weekend, you'll begin seeing a new "Family Members" section within the Information tab on your profile. Enter your mother, for example, and she'll be added to your profile. She'll also be sent a request that appears similar to a relationship request. Once she confirms, you'll then appear on her profile, as well, and both of your profiles will be linked as shown below.



You can add as many immediate family members as you'd like, including parents, siblings and children. We also are considering an extended family section for the future. If your kids are too young to be on Facebook, you can still list them on your profile. If you include their birthdays, we'll even show their ages, too.



I'll be linking my profile with my mom's and other family members to show their significance in my life. My mom, Jing, joined Facebook a few months ago and has taken to following my updates in her News Feed. Now, whenever I post photos from dinner or a weekend trip to Napa, I can be sure she'll mention it the next time we talk on the phone. Connecting on Facebook has made it easier for us to keep updated on each others' daily lives.

If you haven't yet connected with your mom on Facebook, invite her to join and add her to your profile. By Sunday, you can also check out the Facebook Gift Shop, where we'll be offering Mother's Day-themed gifts you can send to your mom.

Julie, a designer at Facebook, is sending her mom a dinner invitation, a Facebook family request and a Facebook gift.

When we introduced the new Friends Page last week, our goal was to help you find and organize all of your connections. Since then, we heard from many of you that you want to be able to filter your friends by those who've recently updated their profiles and to quickly view a stream of their status updates. As a result, we've added both of those options.

From your Friends Page, you can choose the "recently updated" filter on the left side. This will show you which of your friends have posted new profile pictures; updated the Info tab sections... such as Basic Info, Contact Info, Personal Info, and Education and Work; or recently connected with Facebook Pages.

From your home page, the filters on the left side now also include "status updates." By selecting that filter, you will only see the text updates from your friends in your stream. If you don't see the "status updates" filter right away, click the "More" link beneath your list of filters. You can drag the filter to the top of the list to set your friends' status updates as the default view of your home page stream.

We've added the filter for status updates to your home page, rather than the Friends Page, because the two play different roles on the site. The home page focuses on showing you what you're friends are sharing, while giving you options for filtering that content. The Friends Page is the place for organizing and finding friends.

Keep your feedback coming as we introduce features and changes in the future.


Alexandre, a designer at Facebook, is checking out his friends' latest updates.

The swine flu, officially known as the H1N1 flu, has become a top concern for health authorities and people around the world. On Facebook, it's also grown as a major topic of discussion as people share their concerns and opinions with friends.

Fighting a potential pandemic requires that people learn the facts about what's happening and are wary of misinformation. You can receive the most accurate and timely information on the H1N1 flu by checking out a growing number of resources directly from government agencies and organizations on Facebook.

In... the last week, both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the White House have created official Pages on Facebook. You can now connect directly with those, as well as other organizations including the American Red Cross and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to stay updated on the swine flu and other important issues through your stream on Facebook.

For instance, the CDC recently shared a video on how to recognize the signs and symptoms of the H1N1 flu. The American Red Cross also encouraged the spread of common sense prevention tips on hygiene through a posted link.



Make sure you stay informed. Together, the over 200 million people on Facebook can play an invaluable role in preventing this outbreak from spreading.


Adam, an associate on the Public Policy team, is washing his hands and checking the CDC's Facebook Page.

Since introducing the new home page, we've been working to make it easier for you to stay updated with your friends and connections. Your News Feed, in the center of your home page, offers you an updated stream of what's happening with them. Beginning today, that stream is going live.

We've always focused the stream on real-time updates, but before today you needed to refresh your browser to see the most recent posts since logging in. The stream now updates automatically and gives you the option to view new posts with a prompt at the top of the... page immediately below the Publisher.



If you click the prompt, all of the new stories will expand for you to view in your stream.



We're rolling these changes out gradually, so they will be available to everyone soon.

Your feedback played an important role in this change. Live updating for the stream was one of the most common requests we received for the home page, and we plan to keep making improvements. The best way to share your continued feedback is through the "submit feedback" link on the home page tour. We may add more ways for you to instantly update your stream in the future.


Adam Hupp, an engineer working on the stream, thinks his friends' newest posts are refreshing.

This week, you may have heard about some new phishing websites that were created to look identical to authentic Facebook pages. Phishing is common across the Internet, but the security team at Facebook has been working to halt the spread of these latest malicious sites.

The fake sites, like the one below, use a similar URL to Facebook.com in an attempt to steal people's login information. The people behind these websites, known as "phishers," then use the information to access victims' accounts and send messages to their friends, further... propagating the illegitimate sites. In some instances, the phishers make money by exploiting the personal information they've obtained.



When the latest phishing incident surfaced on Wednesday, we quickly blocked the fake links from being shared on Facebook to stop their spread. We've been removing these links from Walls and Inboxes across the site and resetting passwords for any of the compromised accounts we detect. This foils the bad guys, because the login information they collect will no longer work.

Working together
Since phishing is an Internet-wide issue, we also work closely with others in the online security industry to combat these threats. For example, when we find a new phishing site, we send the information to MarkMonitor, a company that adds these phony sites to blacklists. If you've ever visited a website and seen a red sign indicating that it was a "Web Forgery," you've probably seen their work. They also get the fake websites taken down by internet service providers (ISPs), which connect you to the Internet and host websites, and other companies that manage websites. This is what happened with one of the phishing sites involved in the most recent attack. Together, we've responded to over 1,400 phishing sites, including over 240 since the beginning of this year.

Detecting threats
In addition to working with others, we're always improving our own systems. We look at unusual activity on Facebook to detect threats to protect people on the site. For instance, when someone posts to their friends' Walls at a higher rate than usual, we flag the account as potentially compromised. Similar to online banking websites, we take a lot of precautions around your login. If we suspect that your account has been compromised, we ask for additional information to confirm your identity.

How you can help
To combat these threats, we need to your help, too. Protect yourself by always following a few key rules of thumb when you're online:

Every month, more than 850 million photos are uploaded on Facebook—making it the largest photo-sharing site. With photos being so popular, we're constantly working to improve your experience in sharing them.

We noticed that many of you wanted to create larger photo albums to display all the images from a trip or event in one place. So we've now expanded the number of photos an album can hold from 60 to 200.

We tested this limit increase for a couple months, finding that it resulted in significantly more photos being shared as well as a better... experience. With our new Haystack storage system, we were also prepared to store and serve more photos than before.

Over time, we hope to give you even more options to share photos efficiently.


Chris, an engineer, is about to create a huge photo album from his recent trip to New York City.

With the more than 52,000 applications available on Facebook Platform, there are countless new ways to connect and share with friends and family. You can play social games, recruit people to causes and discover music and movie recommendations--to name only a few.

Sometimes, all that choice can be a little overwhelming. So today, we've launched a new Application Directory to help you discover the best and most reliable social applications. The directory includes applications for Facebook.com, as well as a growing number of Facebook Connect... enabled websites, mobile devices and desktop applications. You can access it from the "Browse More Applications" link on the Application menu in the bottom left-hand corner of your browser. Check out these and other tips in this video.



One of the new sections in the directory is "Applications You May Like," which includes the most popular apps on the site, ones your friends have used recently or those that are being suggested based on your current favorites. In some instances, you'll also see green check marks displayed alongside some of the listed applications. These signal that these applications are verified, having passed through a detailed review by Facebook.



When an application completes the verification process, they commit to extra steps for providing a trustworthy experience that meets your expectations.

You'll also find an area for applications "Featured by Facebook." This will include some Verified Applications that we periodically select, because they offer a unique way to interact or share with your friends. For instance, check out currently featured application, kaChing, which lets you and your friends create stock portfolios and compete to see who can outperform the market. Also take a look at CitizenSports and find out which sports teams are your friends' favorites.



Below the listing of "Applications You May Like," you'll now find a stream of your friends' most recent activity with applications. This lets you learn new things about your friends -- from the interests you share and the jobs openings they are promoting to their recent high scores in Tetris and the summer concert they're planning to attend.



You can receive updates directly from the applications you love by becoming a fan of their application profile. Once you're connected, these applications can communicate new features and share updates in your News Feed, so you can be the first to review a new movie or learn about new features being introduced.

Be sure to visit the new Application Directory to find your next favorite application.


Sandra, a program manager for App Verification, is waiting to play her turn in Lexulous..

We moved to credit-based pricing for the Facebook Gift Shop last October. Now we want to simplify the use of those credits by taking away a zero from gift prices. Beginning tonight, the majority of gifts will require 10 credits to give rather than 100.

To match this change, we are updating any outstanding credits you have by the same proportion. This only affects the way credits are calculated; you will still be able to buy the same amount of gifts as before.

When you visit the Gift Shop, you can view the number of credits in your account in the... upper-right corner. If the adjustment has been made, you'll see a note explaining the change as well as the updated prices for gifts.



You can continue to purchase credits, now priced at 10 credits for $1. We expect to offer more ways to use credits and gifts in the future, and already we have run tests where users can share credits between friends.

We want to make sure that even the smallest amount of credits is meaningful. Now by accumulating as little as 10 credits, you can buy a gift to add more significance to a friend's birthday, celebrate a special occasion or simply have fun.


Jared Morgenstern is a product manager for the Gift Shop.

Today, we're posting a draft of our proposed Payments Terms to better explain how financial transactions will take place. Facebook is and will continue to be a free service. These payments terms only govern any purchases you may make on the site.

The new payments terms will replace the existing Terms of Sale and the payments-related sections of the Online Advertising Terms and Conditions. We are using the same notice-and-comment process we debuted a few weeks ago for the Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. You... can comment on the proposed payments terms during a three-day period that begins at 1:00 p.m. PDT today.

We drafted new terms in order to simplify all of our payments-related terms by bringing them together in one place and to give us the flexibility to try new features. Currently, payments are available for all users in two ways on the site. One is through the Facebook Gift Shop, where you can purchase credits to buy gifts for your friends. The second is to purchase advertising through the online Facebook Ads system. You also may see credits appear in other ways on the site.

Be sure to check out the Facebook Site Governance Page to read the latest version of the full drafts as well as a summary of many of the changes. Those documents are available in Spanish, French, Italian and German and will be posted and open for comments until 12:59 p.m. PDT on Saturday, May 30. To stay updated on this and future proposed changes to our site terms and governance, become a fan of the Site Governance Page.


Joe is Facebook's lead counsel for product.

Since moving our headquarters to another location in Palo Alto, Calif., a couple weeks ago, we've been surprised by the level of interest in our new offices. So we wanted to share our thinking in designing the space to give you a better understanding of what Facebook is all about.

The approach our team of designers, architects and in-house advisory board took in creating our new home is similar to our approach in building the product. We see both as works in progress that require constant adaptation. Just as people make the space on the website... their own, we've opted to do the same with our physical space. We've left a lot of the walls white and the spaces unfinished to encourage employees to add the finishing touches.

Our open floor plan matches our relatively flat structure as an organization. We believe good ideas can come from everywhere. Unlike most companies, we don't have offices or cubicles. Instead, people and teams are seated close together so they can collaborate easily. All of the executives are seated in central areas where they are accessible to all employees.

Before and after of the orange crane