Facebook is testing a new feature for its Messenger app that brings back the ‘away’ status option. The sidebar feature would allow users to show their current status and in turn see if their friends are online or away.
The new features are being tested in Taiwan and Australia. Users can set a “sidebar status” alongside a small photo, or tag a location of where they are. They will be able to see their friends’ most recent updates, either a post to News Feed or a new sidebar status. These status messages, however, do not show in the News Feed or on your profile but only in the sidebar and expire in 12 hours or when you post another away status message.
Your old statuses will be saved by Facebook which will be visible only to you, similar to WhatsApp status messages that show up in a list. The sidebar shows the friends whom you message more often and the new feature will most prominently visible to those friends. You can also pin your favourites to the top and scroll down to see other friends’ updates.