Did you know that Facebook messages have “read receipts?” Basically every time you read a Facebook message, the sender on the other end can see exactly wheat time you read the message – down to the minute.

It may be nice to know that others have seen your messages, but it can be incredibly frustrating if you’re the recipient! After all, if someone knows you’ve seen their message but haven’t responded, they can easily misinterpret that as avoidance, when really you’re just busy or you know, forgot.

Evidently the frustration is widespread, and application company Crossrider has taken note. Their new browser extension Chat Undetected blocks Facebook’s “read receipt” so that no one can tell if you’ve read their message or not. The browser extension works for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and even Internet Explorer.

It’s worth noting that this is a great marketing idea from Crossrider, which is a company that provides a simpler framework for creating browser extensions with javascript. They built an example of how their product can be used, and made sure it was something people wanted and would share.

It’s a great reminder that “viral marketing” doesn’t have to be funny (or involve cats). Viral marketing is something people want to share: in this case, because it’s a useful tool that just so happens to demonstrate the power of the Crossrider product.

(via The Next Web)