Facebook Starts Phasing Out Friend Details Feature

Over the past day or two I’ve had multiple users reach out to me regarding the friend details feature disappearing. Previously, Facebook would let you keep notes about how you know each of your contacts on the site. When you approve a friend, you have the option of adding friend details at which point a pop-up will display, prompting you to ask “How do you know [person's name]?” It was a small feature but one that many users found to be extremely useful.

While you can still enter information about how you know somebody, it doesn’t appear as though users can view those details. Facebook is rapidly becoming the social CRM system making features like this an extremely important one. Facebook is focusing on friend lists for managing their contacts but many users would like to include other details, especially notes. Making such notes searchable would also be extremely useful.

Facebook is hoping to be the source for managing our online identity and our entire social graph. In order to accomplish that, Facebook will be forced to add more features, going against their short-term goal of simplifying things on the site. Regardless of the changes, the site continues to grow at a fast pace, chasing after Google, who is in the lead by a large margin.

Do you think the friend details feature is important? Did you notice that it was missing?

-Friend Details Screenshot-

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627132 Comments2009-06-23+14%3A34%3A50Nick+O%27Neill »

No I didnt and im not too concerned its gone

Comment by Facebook User — June 23, 2009 @ 6:51 am
Yes, it is important and no, I didn't see/notice that it was missing…but I only used it at the point of friend addition, as I create friend groups, though if that Detail info was integrated w/ groups, it would add much more value.

Comment by nhb — June 23, 2009 @ 7:00 am
I used to use the friend detail feature a lot before they made friend lists. It was a decent way of organizing an otherwise messy roll of names. But with lists being such a prominent part of the latest Facebook design the detail feature seemed a bit superfluous. I won't miss it.

Comment by Andrew Ledwith — June 23, 2009 @ 7:09 am
Last time, I did use this feature but after I have friend lists, never bother to use this feature. Friendlist is easy for me to separate and keep track friends and view their status updates.

Comment by Nasrul Amri Samsudin — June 23, 2009 @ 7:29 am
I used to use this feature like whoa because I loved the social timeline. The timeline was genius but when they removed that a long time ago I stopped using the 'how i know you feature' because I know how I know people, I just used it to be able to use social timeline. I have found that now I use friend groups too divide so yea I would agree that these details arent really needed anymore.

Comment by Dustin Burleson — June 23, 2009 @ 7:39 am
Where can I find this feature or how can I use it ?

Comment by Mike — June 23, 2009 @ 7:46 am
i used to fill in how i knew a friend every time i accepted a friend request, as the dialog popped up automatically. but a year or so ago, facebook stopped it showing and replaced it with a tiny link which had to be clicked to add details. since then, i never filled it in and my friends stopped using it too. only once have i had a message asking me to confirm how i knew a friend. so facebook killed this a long time ago, and now with it no longer showing in the friends page, its only a matter of time before its removed completely as theres no point filling the details in now.

Comment by Paul — June 23, 2009 @ 7:57 am
I actually have always liked this feature. I noticed it was gone for some time, but the past two friends I've accepted it's asked for details again. I was curious whether they were planning to bring it back. Hmm.

Comment by Facebook User — June 23, 2009 @ 8:26 am
I noticed it gone – when I first added a friend it asked me if I could add the details but didn't want to right away. Now that I have time, I can't go add that pertinent info. Is it gone for good??? I hope not.

Comment by Christopher — June 23, 2009 @ 8:55 am
I like that feature and I hope they will bring it back. Often times I "friend" someone I meet only once and then I don't hear from them for months and I don't remember who they are after that long.

I used "Other" checkbox and specified exactly where I met them so that months later I can remember why I have them as a friend on Facebook. Friend lists will not help me to store that information because it's specific for each friend.

Comment by Raphael Pungin — June 23, 2009 @ 8:58 am
I used this feature back when it was in the friends tab. Now because of the placement they moved it to, it is not possible for me to add details on friends that *I* add…. only requests that I accept. Kinda a moot point. I wish they would bring it back, it is another example of one of their very powerful features that they "dumbed down" for something simpler like friend lists.

Comment by Facebook User — June 23, 2009 @ 8:59 am
This is really old news. Friend details like "Bob went to high school with Alice" stopped being visible in friend lists in April, when Facebook added the automatic filters to friend lists.

Friend details were used to populate those lists — everybody I had marked as having met in high school got added to an automatic "High School" list, for example. (Not all details were used to create lists — I only got lists for schools and workplaces — which is a shame. It would be hilarious to know all those college students now have groups like "Hooked Up With.")

If they're still asking for friend details (it hasn't asked me for any since April), it's just to help populate lists.

WAy to be late to the story, again, AllFacebook.com. Next, you'll be telling us about the death of CB radio.

Comment by Facebook User — June 23, 2009 @ 11:38 am
I like the idea of this, but not the implementation. It would be significantly more useful if it…
1) provided a quick and easy way to tag many friends at once
2) automatically generated a map of the ways you know each of friends

Comment by Kurt — June 23, 2009 @ 1:23 pm
I thought it was a pain anyway – glad to see it gone, but I thought it was being touted as useful for the friend list filters

Comment by Heléna Dank — June 24, 2009 @ 4:58 am
Yes I liked it and I miss it!

Comment by Facebook user — June 27, 2009 @ 11:13 am
I definitely liked that feature!! Even after they made it a link you have to click on when you add someone. Now if you fail to use that feature at the time you add someone there’s no chance to go back and add it later.

Please bring this back facebook! It contains some very useful and helpful information!

Comment by J.C. — June 27, 2009 @ 4:09 pm
Facebook now says they are completely doing away with Friend Details, and have replaced them with Friend Lists; http://www.facebook.com/help/search.php?hq=friend...

Comment by Jessica — June 28, 2009 @ 10:30 pm
Yes I did notice its gone, in a newer way too. I added a friend today but forgot to add the details. So I went back to my Friends List to edit the details, but lo and behold, that button is gone?!
How annoying is it that I can add details when adding the friend but can’t update them later?! >:o

Comment by Jessica — June 29, 2009 @ 2:27 am
Yes i liked it and i wish they had it back….. It was nice to be able to search those groups and separate on multiple levels rather than make lists.

Comment by Ali Baba — July 1, 2009 @ 2:53 pm
I use FB as a networking tool. If I were to make a group for how I met 'friends' I'd have just as many groups as friends. Not helpful.

Comment by Sara — August 20, 2009 @ 12:59 am
I'm having a hard time seperating my personal and business contacts on facebook. I've set up my friend lists, but I still cannot figure out how to limit what they see or don't. I found some directions on "limited profile" but this seems to be a feature that no longer works. How can make sure my professional friend list doesn't see everything on my wall, pics, etc.?

Thansk!

Comment by AMS — September 4, 2009 @ 3:05 pm
Yes, I believe this feature is nice and really helpful. I hope they’ll bring it back because I like the way my friends are organized using the list provided.

Comment by cam — October 21, 2009 @ 12:48 pm
Yes, I’d also appreciate it if they’d bring that feature back. I’m facebook friends with a pretty young female relative and I imagine it might help protect my reputation if I could make clear that she’s just a relative.

Comment by jp — October 24, 2009 @ 4:11 pm
Yes, i noticed this change when it changed mths ago and I thought it was shifted to some other hidden locations but apparently not!

Please BRING THIS FEATURE BACK!

Comment by pS — November 3, 2009 @ 12:23 pm
This shouldn't be scrapped! This has to be used for Safety Reasons!

Comment by Jonathan Rainey — November 12, 2009 @ 8:32 am
I noticed straight away, I thought it was one of the best facebook features, bring it back or I'll move back to myspace!

Comment by Stephen Hill — November 12, 2009 @ 12:10 pm
yes i want this back

Comment by Fred — November 16, 2009 @ 11:28 am
I miss it too… a LOT! boo facebook for phasing out a feature that is still being used by loyal patrons!

Comment by Jonathan — November 24, 2009 @ 8:08 am
I like it. It's nice. Ppl can use it if they want to, in case they don't, do not need to fill all the info .

Comment by Anh Hoang Tran — January 31, 2010 @ 8:44 am
The "sortable friendlist into user-defined groups" is gone. Least of all the notes. and Yes, I noticed the user-defined groups was missing as I used it more than just a lot. and I thought perhaps they moved it. After searching high and low for it, I find out it's really gone and I'm really mad. I used this feature a LOT!!! *WAIL* I want it back!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe they got rid of a perfectly good feature!!!! argh. I'm beyond aggravated with FB for yet again fixing something that isn't broken.

Comment by Teresa A Becker — February 15, 2010 @ 10:05 am
As my friend list grows beyond the current FB max… I'm finding I would like a little better organization on how I know different folks.

Friend list are great although the one off friends like the couple we met on the cruise or the buy in the LA airport… they don't fit into a list. I'd like a way of being a little more specific.

Hope they consider brining it or something like it back… AND not in the form of an app.

Comment by Kris & Kelly Car — March 3, 2010 @ 8:13 am
I just group my friends into categories….

Comment by Jody — March 16, 2010 @ 11:20 am

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No I didnt and im not too concerned its gone

Comment by Facebook User — June 23, 2009 @ 6:51 am

Yes, it is important and no, I didn't see/notice that it was missing…but I only used it at the point of friend addition, as I create friend groups, though if that Detail info was integrated w/ groups, it would add much more value.

Comment by nhb — June 23, 2009 @ 7:00 am

I used to use the friend detail feature a lot before they made friend lists. It was a decent way of organizing an otherwise messy roll of names. But with lists being such a prominent part of the latest Facebook design the detail feature seemed a bit superfluous. I won't miss it.

Comment by Andrew Ledwith — June 23, 2009 @ 7:09 am

Last time, I did use this feature but after I have friend lists, never bother to use this feature. Friendlist is easy for me to separate and keep track friends and view their status updates.

Comment by Nasrul Amri Samsudin — June 23, 2009 @ 7:29 am

I used to use this feature like whoa because I loved the social timeline. The timeline was genius but when they removed that a long time ago I stopped using the 'how i know you feature' because I know how I know people, I just used it to be able to use social timeline. I have found that now I use friend groups too divide so yea I would agree that these details arent really needed anymore.

Comment by Dustin Burleson — June 23, 2009 @ 7:39 am

Where can I find this feature or how can I use it ?

Comment by Mike — June 23, 2009 @ 7:46 am

i used to fill in how i knew a friend every time i accepted a friend request, as the dialog popped up automatically. but a year or so ago, facebook stopped it showing and replaced it with a tiny link which had to be clicked to add details. since then, i never filled it in and my friends stopped using it too. only once have i had a message asking me to confirm how i knew a friend. so facebook killed this a long time ago, and now with it no longer showing in the friends page, its only a matter of time before its removed completely as theres no point filling the details in now.

Comment by Paul — June 23, 2009 @ 7:57 am

I actually have always liked this feature. I noticed it was gone for some time, but the past two friends I've accepted it's asked for details again. I was curious whether they were planning to bring it back. Hmm.

Comment by Facebook User — June 23, 2009 @ 8:26 am

I noticed it gone – when I first added a friend it asked me if I could add the details but didn't want to right away. Now that I have time, I can't go add that pertinent info. Is it gone for good??? I hope not.

Comment by Christopher — June 23, 2009 @ 8:55 am

I like that feature and I hope they will bring it back. Often times I "friend" someone I meet only once and then I don't hear from them for months and I don't remember who they are after that long.

I used "Other" checkbox and specified exactly where I met them so that months later I can remember why I have them as a friend on Facebook. Friend lists will not help me to store that information because it's specific for each friend.

Comment by Raphael Pungin — June 23, 2009 @ 8:58 am

I used this feature back when it was in the friends tab. Now because of the placement they moved it to, it is not possible for me to add details on friends that *I* add…. only requests that I accept. Kinda a moot point. I wish they would bring it back, it is another example of one of their very powerful features that they "dumbed down" for something simpler like friend lists.

Comment by Facebook User — June 23, 2009 @ 8:59 am

This is really old news. Friend details like "Bob went to high school with Alice" stopped being visible in friend lists in April, when Facebook added the automatic filters to friend lists.

Friend details were used to populate those lists — everybody I had marked as having met in high school got added to an automatic "High School" list, for example. (Not all details were used to create lists — I only got lists for schools and workplaces — which is a shame. It would be hilarious to know all those college students now have groups like "Hooked Up With.")

If they're still asking for friend details (it hasn't asked me for any since April), it's just to help populate lists.

WAy to be late to the story, again, AllFacebook.com. Next, you'll be telling us about the death of CB radio.

Comment by Facebook User — June 23, 2009 @ 11:38 am

I like the idea of this, but not the implementation. It would be significantly more useful if it…
1) provided a quick and easy way to tag many friends at once
2) automatically generated a map of the ways you know each of friends

Comment by Kurt — June 23, 2009 @ 1:23 pm

I thought it was a pain anyway – glad to see it gone, but I thought it was being touted as useful for the friend list filters

Comment by Heléna Dank — June 24, 2009 @ 4:58 am

Yes I liked it and I miss it!

Comment by Facebook user — June 27, 2009 @ 11:13 am

I definitely liked that feature!! Even after they made it a link you have to click on when you add someone. Now if you fail to use that feature at the time you add someone there’s no chance to go back and add it later.

Please bring this back facebook! It contains some very useful and helpful information!

Comment by J.C. — June 27, 2009 @ 4:09 pm

Facebook now says they are completely doing away with Friend Details, and have replaced them with Friend Lists; http://www.facebook.com/help/search.php?hq=friend...

Comment by Jessica — June 28, 2009 @ 10:30 pm

Yes I did notice its gone, in a newer way too. I added a friend today but forgot to add the details. So I went back to my Friends List to edit the details, but lo and behold, that button is gone?!
How annoying is it that I can add details when adding the friend but can’t update them later?! >:o

Comment by Jessica — June 29, 2009 @ 2:27 am

Yes i liked it and i wish they had it back….. It was nice to be able to search those groups and separate on multiple levels rather than make lists.

Comment by Ali Baba — July 1, 2009 @ 2:53 pm

I use FB as a networking tool. If I were to make a group for how I met 'friends' I'd have just as many groups as friends. Not helpful.

Comment by Sara — August 20, 2009 @ 12:59 am

I'm having a hard time seperating my personal and business contacts on facebook. I've set up my friend lists, but I still cannot figure out how to limit what they see or don't. I found some directions on "limited profile" but this seems to be a feature that no longer works. How can make sure my professional friend list doesn't see everything on my wall, pics, etc.?

Thansk!

Comment by AMS — September 4, 2009 @ 3:05 pm

Yes, I believe this feature is nice and really helpful. I hope they’ll bring it back because I like the way my friends are organized using the list provided.

Comment by cam — October 21, 2009 @ 12:48 pm

Yes, I’d also appreciate it if they’d bring that feature back. I’m facebook friends with a pretty young female relative and I imagine it might help protect my reputation if I could make clear that she’s just a relative.

Comment by jp — October 24, 2009 @ 4:11 pm

Yes, i noticed this change when it changed mths ago and I thought it was shifted to some other hidden locations but apparently not!

Please BRING THIS FEATURE BACK!

Comment by pS — November 3, 2009 @ 12:23 pm

This shouldn't be scrapped! This has to be used for Safety Reasons!

Comment by Jonathan Rainey — November 12, 2009 @ 8:32 am

I noticed straight away, I thought it was one of the best facebook features, bring it back or I'll move back to myspace!

Comment by Stephen Hill — November 12, 2009 @ 12:10 pm

yes i want this back

Comment by Fred — November 16, 2009 @ 11:28 am

I miss it too… a LOT! boo facebook for phasing out a feature that is still being used by loyal patrons!

Comment by Jonathan — November 24, 2009 @ 8:08 am

I like it. It's nice. Ppl can use it if they want to, in case they don't, do not need to fill all the info .

Comment by Anh Hoang Tran — January 31, 2010 @ 8:44 am

The "sortable friendlist into user-defined groups" is gone. Least of all the notes. and Yes, I noticed the user-defined groups was missing as I used it more than just a lot. and I thought perhaps they moved it. After searching high and low for it, I find out it's really gone and I'm really mad. I used this feature a LOT!!! *WAIL* I want it back!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe they got rid of a perfectly good feature!!!! argh. I'm beyond aggravated with FB for yet again fixing something that isn't broken.

Comment by Teresa A Becker — February 15, 2010 @ 10:05 am

As my friend list grows beyond the current FB max… I'm finding I would like a little better organization on how I know different folks.

Friend list are great although the one off friends like the couple we met on the cruise or the buy in the LA airport… they don't fit into a list. I'd like a way of being a little more specific.

Hope they consider brining it or something like it back… AND not in the form of an app.

Comment by Kris & Kelly Car — March 3, 2010 @ 8:13 am

I just group my friends into categories….

Comment by Jody — March 16, 2010 @ 11:20 am

Facebook Starts Phasing Out Friend Details Feature

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627132 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.allfacebook.com%2Ffacebook-friend-details-2009-06Facebook+Starts+Phasing+Out+Friend+Details+Feature2009-06-23+14%3A34%3A50Nick+O%27Neillhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.allfacebook.com%2F%3Fp%3D6271 »

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Follow AllFacebook

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Social Media Jobs

Let your next job find you!

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Jobs of the Day

Digital Strategist

Digital/Social Media Manager - Entertainment

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See all jobs

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