Facebook is giving users a new way to look back at their history on the social network with a new feature called On This Day. It’s a way for people to take a trip down memory lane through Facebook’s mobile app or website and see what posts they made in years past.
The algorithm-powered nostalgia trip will be available in a dedicated section of the app and Facebook’s website, but the company said that stories from the past may also surface in a user’s News Feed. People can also sign up for notifications from On This Day to let them know when new stories are available for review. The page is private, so people won’t have to worry about their friends finding past posts, unless they do some heavy-duty sleuthing.
If they don’t like what they see, users can choose to edit or delete the old posts. If they want their friends to see exactly what they were up to years ago, On This Day also includes an option to share the time-warped post with friends.
According to a report from TechCrunch, the feature is designed to keep less pleasant memories out of On This Day’s posts to their News Feed. Assuming users have dutifully kept information about their relationship status up to date, the social network will try not to remind them of their exes. In a similar vein, the feature will keep deceased friends out of view, too. All of that content will still be displayed in the On This Day page, however.
It’s a move by the company to try and increase user engagement with the News Feed, as well as actually make use of photos, status updates and other content that has been posted to the social network and largely forgotten.
The feature is still rolling out to all users, so sit tight if it hasn’t yet made it to you.
