One of the things that makes Twitter Twitter is @mentions–the use of an @ to indicate you’re mentioning another Twitter user in a tweet. Now Facebook is getting @mentions, in a somewhat different form:

Now, when you are writing a status update and want to add a friend’s name to something you are posting, just include the “@” symbol beforehand. As you type the name of what you would like to reference, a drop-down menu will appear that allows you to choose from your list of friends and other connections, including groups, events, applications and Pages. Soon, you’ll be able to tag friends from applications as well. The “@” symbol will not be displayed in the published status update or post after you’ve added your tags.

Sounds useful (it’s rolling out over the next few weeks and isn’t live for me yet); also sounds like yet another example of Facebook drawing inspiration from Twitter. I like the idea of @mentions being a convention across the Web–as they seem to be in Technologizer comments already.

 
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