Facebook Notifier application for Mac OS X is just what the doctor ordered

When it comes to keeping on top of my social networks, it is sometimes a pain to always have to open myweb browser to see what I’ve missed. This is the reason why I love Tweetie so much. However, Tweetie only covers one of the two social networks on which I am most active. Up until now, I’ve had nothing to use as a native application on my Mac for Facebook. However, Facebook Notifier solves that problem hands down.

This menu bar application, which is available from Facebook, simply watches for notifications on your account using Facebook Connect, and then alerts you using Growl. The great part about this is that simply clicking the Growl notification will launch your default web browser and take you to the page with that notification. However, if you don’t have Growl installed, it will turn the menu bar icon—a Facebook logo—from black to blue. As far as notifying the user goes, this app executes that in the way I coud have only imagined. It’s really great.

The Facebook Notifications applications also adds the ability to create a global hot key for updating your Facebook status with a HUD window. However, you can also do so by clicking the menu bar item and then hitting “Update Status.” There are also other options when you click the menu bar icon. Other than showing you your five most recent notifications and three most recent inbox messages, it allows you to click an item to open your web browser and create a new inbox message. Furthermore, clicking on any notification in the drop down menu will bring you to the page with that notification.

Lastly, while the page on Facebook says it is experimental and has only been tested on Mac OS X 10.5, I had no issues installing and using it on Snow Leopard. While I wasn’t necessarily looking for a Facebook Notifier, I was extremely delighted when I saw that Facebook had made one. Now that I have it, I would miss it dearly if it went away. It makes staying on top of your Facebook profile much, much easier.

Go ahead, go check it out today and report back with what you think!

Product [Facebook Notifier]