Facebook has launched a social app exclusively for famous people

Facebook, vying in a social-media popularity contest among celebrities with Twitter, has released aniPhone app with a velvet rope wrapped around it. The new Facebook Mentions app is currently only available on Apple iPhones for celebs, athletes, politicians and other public figures with “verified” pages in the U.S. It’s designed to encourage famous folk to post more content to Facebook — and interact directly with their followers. Unlike the regular Facebook app available to the hoi polloi, Mentions gives high-profile individuals a filtered view of notifications about fan activity, including mentions from other influencers or the media. Other features include the ability to host a live Q&A on their pages from an iPhone, and suggestions on other popular figures to follow. According to Facebook, there are “tens of thousands” of public figures on the social service. Nearly 800 million of Facebook’s users follow celebs and other public figures on the site, and engage in more than 1 billion interactions each week (which includes posts, comments, likes and shares).