Facebook has quietly introduced a new feature, particularly prominent on the mobile version of the site, and it makes stalking on the social media platform a slightly riskier affair. The Facebook Hello feature is essentially Poke under a new name, but its placement on people’s profile pages is proving to be quite problematic.
You may not have noticed it yet, as it only started rolling out this summer and appears to still be in its testing phase.
If you visit a friend’s profile, you’ll find a waving hand icon, carefully captioned ‘Hello,’ at the top of the page. If you click the button, that person will receive a notification letting them know that you’ve waved to them. However, here’s where things can get tricky.
The Hello button also appears as an option on the profile pages of people you aren’t friends with. What’s more, the button is very prominent if you’re using the Facebook app or mobile site, located beneath the profile picture window, just to the left of the screen.
Users are complaining that it’s far too easy to accidentally tap the button, something that could end up being rather embarrassing if you happen to be stalking a crush, or ex-lover. Others say they’ve selected Hello instead of Add Friend, a move many fear makes them appear strange.
Fortunately, if you do have a slip-up and hit Hello when you didn’t want to, it is possible to undo your mistake by pressing it again and tapping the Confirm option that comes up. Alternatively, you could wait patiently in hope for them to return your inadvertent wave.
The feature is almost exactly the same as the infamous Facebook Poke, which hasn’t actually been retired but is just a lot less visible these days, being hidden inside the More button.
Earlier this year, the social network also launched Stories, which is another way to figure out which of your online friends tend to stalk your activity.