Facebook has introduced a puzzling new function for the "Ask" feature that lets users inquire into another member's relationship status without actually having to talk to them.
If your relationship status is left blank, it should have an Ask button next to it so Facebook friends can send an inquiring message, The Telegraph reported. The feature is live for most American users and should spread to the U.K. soon.
Last year, Facebook introduced prompts so users could request each other's contact information, but the new Ask button brings the "data-guilting" function to a whole new level, The Daily Dot noted.
The social network has incorporated a small protective measure, requiring users to explain why they want the relationship status information.
"But make no mistake: This is primarily a way for Facebook to goad users into putting more information up on Facebook without directly doing the goading. It's nagging by proxy," said The Daily Dot.
The recently installed Ask button appears next to anything left blank in the About section, including your work, hometown and school.
TIME writer Laura Stampler tested the relationship Ask feature, noting that requests can't be made anonymously and that Facebook requires a note of explanation with the inquiry.
The recipient will see a checklist of relationship status options and the option to share the answer just with the person who asked or with all of Facebook (although the latter seems unlikely).
Users can't opt out of the Ask button, a Facebook spokesperson told The Daily Dot. Meanwhile, Ask seems to be a superfluous feature.
"People share what they're comfortable sharing," Stampler wrote. "All the button does is enable nagging from people who aren't close enough with you to know where you went to college, if you're single or whether you were spared in the last round of company layoffs."
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