I feel pretty! Facebook releases broad test of new status actions

If you’re seeing a new way to share status messages that include pre-thought-out actions such as “feeling,” “eating,” and “watching,” Facebook is doing a broad test of these actions today.

“This is a test and we have no other details to share,” said a Facebook spokesperson in an email to VentureBeat.

The test looks like an extension of “actions,” a new way to share what you are feeling and doing that was originally announced at a January Facebook event in San Francisco. Actions open up a new opportunity for advertisers to get valuable information about what your interests are — and in some cases your purchasing history.

Currently, you can share how you’re feeling, what you’re doing watching, reading, listening to, drinking and eating. Statuses that reflect how you’re feeling come with an emoticon if you use one of the pre-selected emotions available. The “action” statuses pull from your interests on your about page for those pre-selections. For example, the “watching” tab will open up a list of movies and TV shows you’ve already said you read in the movies and TV sections of your About page. You can, of course, type in a new show.

Facebook notes that “details you add to posts also appear on your About page and other places on Facebook.” For example, I updated my status to say that I’m reading “The Help.” When I checked out my About page, “The Help” had been added in the Books section for me.

I deleted the status update and the book was automatically removed from my About page.

So, don’t put anything too scandalous on your status, because while statuses feel fleeting, those actions are distributed amongst areas of your profile.

Zuckerberg image via Jolie O’Dell/VentureBeat