Some Facebook users are seeing a “Recent Status Updates” module on the right hand side of the page. The social network has shown “memorable stories” and “photo memories” before, but displaying posts from the past two months in this way is new. This could be Facebook’s attempt to share content users might have missed over the holidays.

From what we’ve seen of the feature, the status updates come from friends a user frequently engages with on the site. However, it might be useful for the social network to start showing posts from friends and pages that do not regularly make it into a user’s News Feed. If users interact with this content, it would suggest it is relevant and similar items should be featured in the feed more often. This would improve the EdgeRank algorithm that decides what users see in their streams.

Within the Recent Status Updates module, there is a “Show More” option that refreshes the box with two posts made between November and today. After a few clicks, the module changes to “Previous Status Updates” and shows content from as far back as April 2011. Along with Timeline, this is a way to remind users of the past and suggest the value Facebook has as a place to preserve memories.