As competition begins heating up in the cloud storage space, last week Facebook quietly began rolling out a file-sharing feature for all groups.
According to a Mashable report, the feature allows users to upload files of up to 25MB (but music and executable files are not allowed). The file-sharing service was originally included in Facebook's Groups for Schools initiative, but this required users to have a .edu address to use it.
Facebook says malicious, copyrighted or inappropriate files can be reported using the same mechanism for all other content on the site.
Facebook Groups reportedly has 380 million users, and the file-sharing feature has been added as a result of user requests.
While the initial release of the service comes with a number of limitations, it is widely expected that Facebook will continue to update the file-sharing service - potentially posing a threat to the long-term growth and appeal of other free cloud storage services like Dropbox.
File-sharing on Facebook has been a long time coming for the social network, and in 2010 it acquired file-sharing start-up Drop.io.
In the run up to its IPO, Facebook has been consistently rolling out updates to its service offering and user interface. Last week, the social giant also announced plans for its own “App Centre” in which all social games and apps will be featured in a single place.
Facebook will also for the first time begin offering paid-for apps in the new store, which will be a new revenue stream for both Facebook app developers and Facebook itself.
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