Facebook Adds Twitter-Style Public Profiles for Celebs

New changes to the site will give celebrities an easy outlet for reaching fans, and users more control over the updates they see.

If celebrities didn’t already have enough outlets to send messages and news out to the loving public, Facebook has offered up one more podium. On Wednesday, the social networking site revealed its new Facebook public profiles feature, which will offer Facebook users a chance to keep tabs on public figures in a manner similar to Twitter.

Just as Twitter users subscribe to feeds from their friends, Facebook now allows its users to peg a handful of designated celebrities and organizations to view a “stream” of updates from them. The site has also altered the home page that users see when they log in to afford more control over the content they get hit with – allowing tweaks like blocking updates from friends you don’t keep in touch with.

“You’ll be able to keep up with all of their activity in your News Feed,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post. “This means that you can find out that Oprah is reading a book backstage before a show, CNN posted a breaking story or U2 is working on a new song, just as you would see that your friend uploaded new photos from her trip to Europe.”

Public profiles from a number of high-profile people, including Britney Spears, Oprah, Ashton Kutcher and even President Obama went live on Wednesday, while the new home page features will be rolling out next week.