subject: Facebook adds use of @ Symbol in Comments [print this page] Facebook adds use of @ Symbol in Comments
For some time now, Facebook users have been using the @ symbol to tag other people when creating a status update.
Facebook has now expanded the use of the @ symbol such that users conversing on Facebook can now use it when replying to comments, allowing you to tag friends, pages, groups or even events within a comment.
Typing the @ symbol as you reply to comments now creates a link to the profile page of the person, page or group you are including in your post. In the same way as you can use this when making your status update, typing the symbol @ followed by the name of a person, page or
group will then give you a drop down menu.
In fact, the drop down menu already appears as you start typing the first letters of the name. Once you see this, all you need to do is select the right name and hit the enter button to include it in your comment.
You can include up to 6 names in this manner in a single comment. The full name of the person shows in the comment box highlighted in blue and the name then becomes a clickable link to that person, business or group's Facebook profile.
As a person is mentioned in a comment, he or she gets a notification about it.
The added functionality to the @ symbol in Facebook provides benefits to businesses that have Facebook pages as well. Page administrators, for instance, can choose to use Facebook as a page and publish comments that mention their pages on the posts of other pages. This is a great way to attract people to your page and, from there, back to your website or blog as they become curious about what you do and offer.
For Personal Profiles, you'll only be able to add the @ link when commenting with people that you are friends with. Using Facebook as a Page and commenting/linking to someone won't work if you are not friends with that person first.
With this expanded feature of the @ symbol in Facebook, it is expected that more people will be engaged in longer conversations through the comments area. One reason will be people mentioned in comments will get notified, sparking their curiosity and prompting them to take action by visiting the Facebook pages where they were mentioned.
