10 new Facebook features you may not have noticed

Facebook, the world's top social network, has rolled out a slew of new features in the recent past. From allowing users to watch videos in 360-degree view to adding videos as profile pictures, these and many of the new features are aimed at improving user experience. Here's are the 10 such Facebook features.

Gets live video streaming

Facebook too recently joined the streaming video fray. The social networking giant launched a new feature called "Live," designed to allow celebrities and public figures to stream video to its nearly 1.5 billion users. The service works out of Facebook's Mentions app, launched last year.

Facebook opens up Mentions app to verified users

Expanding the role of Mentions app, Facebook rolled out a new feature by which users who have verified accounts, including journalists, could engage with their followers and share content. Interested users have to fill out an online form before they can download and use the app.

A reboot for Notes

Facebook recently rolled out its updated Notes feature to make it more like blog posts. Notes feature provides users more font formatting options as well as an opportunity to add a large cover photo at the top of the post. Photos, headers and lists can also be included.

"We’re rolling out an update to make notes on Facebook more beautiful and customizable. Notes are now an even better way to write a longer post and share with anyone — whether it’s a small group of friends or everyone on Facebook," said the company in a statement.

Videos go 360-degree

Facebook updated its News Feed with support for 360-degree videos. The feature displays the user an entire scene in virtual reality. The company worked with Oculus, the VR headset maker it acquired in 2014, to develop the feature.

Add videos as profile picture

Facebook now allows users to use a short video as his or her profile. Users can also set a temporary profile picture that reverts to their old picture at a specific time. This feature can be used to set a profile picture that backs a particular cause or other activity pictures like birthday celebrations.

The new feature also allows users to write a bio, with details describing their education and work to appear at the top of their profile. They can also choose up to five Featured Photos that can go at the top of the profile.

'Dislike' button comes to Facebook, with a catch

Since its launch, Facebook users around the world have been demanding a 'dislike' button. Facebook finally heard them -- but a little differently. The company rolled out a series of expressive "reactions", rather than exactly replicating the dislike button. Facebook Reactions include emotions like "Love," "Haha," "Yay," "Wow," "Sad" and "Angry."

Get 'Suggested Videos' on Facebook

Further stepping on YouTube's territory, Facebook rolled out 'suggested videos' feature. The company announced that it's testing the feature that will show Facebook users related videos in a row after they've tapped one from their NewsFeed. In a statement, the company also said, "In addition to helping people find more videos they may be interested in, we know people sometimes want to multitask while they watch videos. To make this possible, we’re testing a way for people to watch a video in a floating screen while simultaneously multitasking on Facebook."

Instant Articles

With this feature, Facebook wants to make reading on mobile phones faster, or as the company terms it 'Instant.' According to the social-networking giant, the feature will improve the load times of news stories on its mobile app by as much as 10 times. Also, Instant Articles is not just about faster load times, it also includes other features like interactive maps, image zoom, autoplay videos and audio captions.

Facebook Search gets 'real-time'

Facebook updated its search capabilities to let people find conversations about news shared publicly. It is now a tool to see what the internet is talking about in real time. As part of the feature, Search shows users what the world is saying about topics that matter and how their friends and family are reacting.

Notification tab gets more personalized

Facebook is making its notification tab more personalized for you. Until now, the alerts to Facebook users had been focused around postings by friends, birthdays and upcoming events. Facebook's expanded alerts will now also include community news and events, storm warnings and other weather information, and suggestions for television programmes or nearby movies. These notifications can also be customized according to happenings around the community.