Facebook notifications tab about to get crowded

Facebook says it will be offering a "robust new notifications tab". Photo / Supplied

Facebook's notifications tab is about to get a whole lot busier, thanks to a planned overhaul of the feature by Facebook developers.

The social network is currently working on a "robust new notifications tab", according to tech news site Mashable, which will pull in lots of information from all over the site and effectively act as a go-to hub for everything a user needs to know each day.

A Facebook spokesperson told the website that there will be eight different sections on the notifications tab by default:

• Birthdays - which most people receive notifications for already - will remain.

• Events - see above.

• Life Events will show things published by your friends recently.

• Nearby Places will show three places to eat depending on your location.

• Trending Topics will show wider world/national news.

• News Shared Locally will be tailored to each user's location.

• Today in the Past will show events that happened to you on this day.

• Nearby Friends will show who on your contact list is in the local area.

The spokesperson said: "We are testing an updated Notifications tab that adds additional, relevant content about everything that might be helpful to know on a particular day."

The new updates will be tested on mobiles in the US first before being rolled out across the rest of the world.

- The Independent