Facebook is extending its strategy to dominate Twitter and Google + by now making it possible for Facebook users to “subscribe” to other user’s public status updates, without even necessarily having to be accepted as a friend on the social network. This very much replicates Twitter….

This new “subscribe” button is the latest in a string of attempts from Facebook to prevent Twitter and Google + overtaking it in the technology stakes. This new button has been launched this week simultaneously with a couple of other new features from Facebook. One being the new smart lists feature – a direct response to Google +’s “circles” – which creates lists for you depending on who you work with, where you live and who you have approved as a family member. The second new feature is their instant messaging mobile app which competes with Blackberry. Facebook Messenger allows Facebook users to instantly message friends using their mobile phones.

The new “subscribe” button, which appears next to the “friends” and “message” buttons at the top of each user’s profile, allows you to subscribe to status updates from any user who has their privacy settings set to public. This allows Google to index the updates and store them so that everyone can see them, meaning that users will now be able to subscribe to feeds of celebrities and other famous figures and view all updates in their news feeds. This definitely represents a Twitter-esque functionality of being able to see what celebrities and political figures are doing without actually having to connect with them as a friend. It also means anyone can subscribe to statuses that you publically display, so always check your privacy settings if you do not want users you are not connected with viewing them.

This new button is being seen as a direct challenge to Twitter by technology experts and changes Facebook from being solely a place where friends can connect with each other, to being a network where information can be displayed and shared easily.

The most interesting thing about the subscriptions feature is that when a user on Facebook adds someone as a friend, as soon as they are accepted they instantly become a subscriber to each other’s public updates.

What next? Well Facebook is expected to announce the launch of a music service that will make it truly different and keep it way ahead of its competitors – watch this space!