Facebook has an important new feature in the works: sorting of your friends into specific groups to better handle them. This will make possible things like sending updates or messages to only specific chunks of people – and should alleviate even more of the privacy fears associated with the ever-growing Facebook.

Remember, Facebook started out as a college-only network in which you would almost certainly personally know everyone you friended, but it has since turned into the most hyped all-out social networks meaning many of us are friending people we don’t actually know. Aside from privacy issues, there are smaller things this should take care of like inside-jokes; maybe you have them with a certain group of friends and post something meant for them, but 90% of your other friends will have no idea what the hell you are talking about yet still get the update.

Allfacebook also brings up a good point that this could even more pressue on the online business network, LinkedIn. If you can now group your business associates on Facebook and only allow them to see business-related details, then do we really need to use LinkedIn as well? LinkedIn of course has started coming a bit at Facebook recently also by adding profile pictures.