In a attempt to make it diverse community larger in size, Facebook is testing a new feature under the banner: ‘Things in Common’ which may help users connect with other random users who share some commonalities like neighbourhood or even the same college or work space.
The feature is also meant to highlight some common interest between you and a non-friend Facebook user which might help the two connect.
According to a Cnet report, the feature is currently available to only a few users in the US which display very little information about non-friend users.
Things in Common takes into consideration certain feature like common city, common college, common workplace, common Facebook groups and other similar things. The report also states that only the information that has been made public by the user will show up in the label.
How Does it Work?
When a Facebook user reads through a public conversation on another user or a brand's page, Facebook will highlight all the things that you would have common with users who have left comments on that page.
So, in the same post, under a user's name, you might see a label that says "You both went to the University of Delhi," or that "You both from New Delhi".
Facebook has said that it’s a “small” test, restricted to only the United States.
As Facebook has had some backlash in the recent months due to some of the user’s data being misused, the company has said that the ‘Things in Common’ feature will adhere to people's audience and privacy settings. So, in a way, if someone hasn’t mentioned their current city on their Facebook profile, the same won’t reflect in the ‘Things in Common’ label.
For now, there's no way to turn the label off and the company hasn’t given any specifics about future plans with this project.
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