Facebook has begun testing a new feature in the news feed that allow users to see what their friends are liking, sharing and commenting on in real time.

The Happening Now sidebar appears in a column to the right of the primary news feed, duplicating much of that content in shorter form, as shown in the screenshot above from Dazeinfo.

Users can click on an update to pull up more information without leaving the feed:

At present, most users see a list of upcoming events, recommended Pages, ads and pokes:

It's not yet clear whether the updates on the sidebar have character limits, a la Twitter, but the resemblance to the Twitter feed is unmistakable.

Facebook says that it is only testing the feature with a "fraction of a percent" of Facebook users, but "may expand it to more people" in the coming weeks.

[via TNW]