Today, Facebook is rolling out a new feature that has a ton of people contemplating the future of Twitter: Facebook @mentions. If you’re a twitter user, you’re familiar with the @ symbol used to signal a response to another twitter user. You already have similar functionality, better known as tagging, in Facebook for uploads of new photos. Now it’s expanding into your status updates.

Twitter @ Replies VS. New Facebook Tagging Feature

Though the @ symbol isn’t displayed in your status update, using it will allow you link to people, pages, groups, events, and more. When you tag someone, they will be notified in the notifications section, similar to the @username tab on Twitter. Futhermore, using the @ symbol on Facebook will bring up a list of matches right underneath your status. This is great for friends who don’t use their real name, or use a nickname on Facebook. No more searching for the correct spelling.

With Twitter you’re going to dig deep unless you’re using a Twitter client. Facebook made things simple  by compiling everything under one feature. To tag groups or events, Twitter users refer to a hashtag (#) instead of using the @ symbol.

Could this cause you to switch from Twitter to Facebook? Personally, no. These are two different platforms. My reasons for using each varies based on my community ties. What about you?